The Senate is set to hold another round of votes on blocking U.S. arms transfers to Israel, as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) filed three new joint resolutions of disapproval against $658.8 million in sales of 500- and 1,000-pound bombs to Israel and “defense articles” for 250-pound bombs.

“Given the horrific destruction that Israel’s extremist government has wrought on Gaza, Iran and Lebanon, the last thing in the world that American taxpayers need to do right now is to provide 22,000 new bombs to the Netanyahu government,” Sanders said. “No more weapons to support an illegal war.”

The effort is being co-sponsored by Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Peter Welch (D-VT).

Sanders emphasized that the administration had sidestepped normal congressional review procedures using emergency authorities in advancing the arms sales earlier this month.

Sanders and other progressive Democrats have forced votes on similar efforts to block arms sales to Israel on three previous occasions since the war in Gaza began, with a majority of the Democratic caucus — 27 lawmakers — voting to block at least one arms sale in July of last year, a significant jump in support from similar efforts in November 2024 and April 2025.

Israel’s standing among Democrats has worsened since last July, with even some Democrats who supported continued arms sales at that time blaming Israel for dragging the U.S. into the war in Iran. Polls show registered voters now see Israel more negatively than positively.

Some senators have argued the U.S. should have threatened to cut off military support to prevent an Israeli attack on Iran.

Van Hollen, Merkley and Welch, in statements, all framed the bomb sales as proxy votes on the war in Iran, and a vote to block the sales as a step toward ending the war. Senate Democrats have voted nearly unanimously as recently as yesterday to bring an immediate end to the war in Iran.

“With the bombs already provided to Israel by American taxpayers, Israeli forces are unleashing a campaign of total war in Iran with the clear and deliberate intention to eviscerate Iran’s economy and society,” Welch said in a statement. “I support these joint resolutions to make sure that we do not send another 20,000 bombs to Israel that will result in further destruction in Iran and Lebanon. We must end this war, and we must not send these bombs.”

On the other hand, some Democrats who had voted in favor of previous arms sales flipped in the July 2025 vote to express frustration with the ongoing war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

With the war in Gaza now in a ceasefire, humanitarian aid restored and efforts toward reconstruction slowly starting, that motivation for blocking arms sales may no longer be salient for some Democrats.