Gregory Meeks said he will not clear a 2.8 billion dollar sale of 40,000 2000-pound bombs to Israel. The Guardian lists 20,000 MK-84, 20,000 BLU-117 and 20,000 I-2000 warheads and notes that a hold is not a veto; a kill needs a joint resolution.
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks said in a 16 September statement that he will not clear the Trump administration's proposed 2.8 billion dollar sale of 2000-pound bombs to Israel at this time. Meeks said the proposed sale of 40,000 of those bombs raised unresolved concerns about their use in densely populated areas of Gaza and Lebanon.[1]
Joseph Gedeon writes that Meeks announced a hold on Tuesday on 40,000 of the 2000-pound bombs, quoting that the Trump administration has not provided sufficient civilian-protection assurances. The Guardian dated Wednesday 16 September 2026 says the Foreign Military Financing package covers 20,000 MK-84 bombs, 20,000 BLU-117 bombs and 20,000 I-2000 penetrator warheads. Meeks cannot veto the 2.8 billion dollar transfer alone; a formal kill needs a veto-proof joint resolution. Marco Rubio used a 2025 emergency to bypass review.[2]
The committee statement and The Guardian describe the same 2.8 billion dollar, 40,000-bomb file. What the Guardian adds is the legal ceiling of a ranking-member hold: it delays clearance, it does not by itself kill the transfer. Meeks's own statement does not claim a cancelled sale.[1], [2]
