Sanders introduces new set of resolutions to block Israel arms sales
Senate Democrats split last year in high-profile votes on similar resolutions led by Sanders
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Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) talks about lowering health care costs during an event highlighting the Biden administration's work to lower the cost of breathing treatments for asthma and COPD patients in the Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on April 03, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) filed a new set of four resolutions on Thursday to block U.S. arms sales and transfers to Israel, setting up a potential repeat of last year’s high-profile floor votes that split Senate Democrats.
The exact text of the resolutions, which would detail which specific transfers Sanders is seeking to block, was not immediately available. Sanders’ office did not comment on whether he plans to force a vote on any or all of the resolutions, as he did last year.
On at least one other occasion, in 2021, he introduced a similar resolution without seeking a vote.
Despite current Republican control of the Senate, the resolutions are privileged, meaning that Sanders can force a vote on them at will.
Nineteen Senate Democrats voted for at least one of the three resolutions on which Sanders called a vote last year. It’s not clear whether some Democrats might vote differently on the resolutions now, given that they’re in the minority and also that the war in Gaza is currently halted by a cease-fire agreement.
There are also six new Democrats in the Senate, and most of them declined last year to say how they would have voted on the resolutions that Sanders led last year. Only Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) told JI at the time that he would have opposed them.
There are currently no listed co-sponsors for Sanders’ resolutions.