The U.S. Senate voted down three bills by Independent Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont that would have stopped the U.S. from selling arms to Israel worth about $20 billion.
Sanders introduced three Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) in late December of last year. Given that Israel has a lot of support in the upper chamber, the motions were not expected to pass.
Sanders has spoken out against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military actions and limits on sending aid. He says that Israel is breaking international law and going beyond its right to protect itself.
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Along with other military aid, the three resolutions tried to stop the transfer of U.S. tank rounds, water rounds, and guidance kits attached to the “bombs dropped in Gaza” to Israel. The steps would have stopped the U.S. from selling about $20 billion worth of weapons to Israel.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the United States has given Israel more than $310 billion in economic and military aid, including at least $228 billion in military aid. The United States is a strong ally of Israel.
“The United States government is currently in violation of the law, and every member of the U.S. Senate who believes in the rule of law should vote for the resolutions,” Sanders said the day before the vote.
The Vermont Independent alleged that the U.S. is breaking the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act by giving weapons to countries that break internationally recognized human rights or that stop U.S. humanitarian help.
The United Nations and many humanitarian groups have told the world about Israel’s violations, pointing out in particular its limits on sending humanitarian help. Israel has said it will provide food and other kinds of humanitarian help.
The Senate has been busy this week.
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Maj. Gen. John L. Rafferty, Jr., was confirmed by the U.S. Senate for promotion to the rank of lieutenant general and for assignment as the commanding general of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
Rafferty, currently the chief of staff at U.S. European Command in Germany, possesses over 33 years of leadership and technical expertise, particularly in field artillery operations and command and staff roles.
Rafferty’s notable recent positions encompass commanding general of the 56th Artillery Command, U.S. Army Europe-Africa, Germany; chief of Army Public Affairs, Washington, D.C.; director of the Long Range Precision Fires Cross Functional Team, Fort Sill, Oklahoma; executive officer to the director of the Army Staff, Washington, D.C.; and commander of the 18th Field Artillery Brigade, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
He has provided support for Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, Spartan Shield, Inherent Resolve, and others.
Rafferty is succeeding Lt. Gen. Sean A. Gainey, who is retiring after over 35 years of military service.
Recently, Senate Republicans confirmed nearly 100 of President Trump’s nominees, outpacing previous administrations and even his own first term.
A 53–43 vote Thursday approved 97 of Trump’s picks, marking some of the final floor action in the Senate after a frenetic stretch driven by Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., once Republicans took control of the chamber in January.
Along the way, Republicans navigated internal divisions to pass the president’s signature “one big, beautiful bill” and reopened the government following the longest shutdown in U.S. history, Fox News reported.
Confirming Trump’s nominees, however, often proved nearly impossible under Senate rules, as Democrats imposed blanket objections to even the lowest-level positions across the government.
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said Republicans began the year confirming Trump’s Cabinet at a breakneck pace, only to run headlong into what he described as “unprecedented obstruction from the Democratic minority.”
“We began the year by confirming President Trump’s Cabinet faster than any Senate in modern history,” Barrasso said per Fox. “And by week’s end, President Trump will have 417 nominees confirmed by the Senate this year. That’s far more than the 365 that Joe Biden had in his first year in office.”
