Trump bypasses Congress to force arms sale in ‘yet another repudiation’: Top Dem lawmaker

The top Democratic lawmaker on the House Foreign Affairs Committee hammered President Donald Trump Saturday after his administration “bypassed” a “longstanding practice” to force through an arms sale for Israel and Saudi Arabia, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Friday evening, the Trump administration approved a $15.7 billion arms sale to Israel and Saudi Arabia, and while the deal must still be approved by Congress, the administration did not notify the House Foreign Affairs Committee of the proposal, as is customary, according to the Journal.

“This is yet another repudiation by Donald Trump of Congress’ Constitutional oversight role,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Journal reported.

Trump has radically expanded the power of the executive branch during his second term, stripping Congress – the legislative branch – of much of its power, and with the help of the Supreme Court that has disproportionately ruled in the Trump administration’s favor in such cases.

Trump’s push to expand the power of the executive branch has been so fierce that a number of Republican lawmakers have sought to reclaim some of their congressional authority. Since Trump retook the White House, he’s clawed back spending already appropriated by lawmakers, declared national emergencies to circumvent Congress, and asserted control over independent agencies.

With his latest circumvention of Congress, Trump appears hopeful in fast tracking weapons to both Israel and Saudi Arabia, and in spite of a growing number of Democratic lawmakers pushing to withhold the sale of offensive weapons to Israel amid its ongoing siege on Gaza, which a United Nations commission declared to be a genocide last year.