Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) on Saturday criticized the Biden administration’s legislatively unconstrained transfer of US munitions to Israel.
In a news release quoted by The Guardian, Kaine, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said weapons transfers must come under congressional oversight.
“Just as Congress has a crucial role to play in all matters of war and peace, Congress should have full visibility over the weapons we transfer to any other nation. Unnecessarily bypassing Congress means keeping the American people in the dark,” Kaine wrote.
“We need a public explanation of the rationale behind this decision – the second such decision this month,” he added.
Kaine said in his statement that he “strongly condemned” Hamas’ October 7 attack against Israel and added he had been vocal about the need to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
His statement comes a day after the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said that Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, had approved the sale of 155mm projectiles and related equipment to Israel valued at $147.5 million.
It said that Blinken had “determined and provided detailed justification to Congress that an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale to the Government of Israel” and that the sale was “in the national security interests of the United States” and thereby exempt from congressional review under arms-export control laws.
“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability,” the statement added.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration bypassed Congress and approved the emergency sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106 million.
The move came as President Joe Biden’s request for an aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other national security is languishing in Congress.
Senate Republicans had previously blocked aid for Israel and Ukraine from advancing in a key vote. Republicans have insisted that the foreign aid must be paired with major border security policy changes.
In November, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill that would have provided $14.3 billion in aid to Israel.
US Senate Democrats later blocked the bill, taking issue with the bill over the fact that it would enact funding cuts to the Internal Revenue Service and that it did not include aid to Ukraine.