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IN A FIRST, MAJORITY OF DEMOCRATIC SENATORS VOTE TO STOP ARMING
ISRAEL
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Prem Thakker
July 30, 2025
Zeteo
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_ 26 Democrats joined Bernie Sanders in his effort to end certain
weapons' sales to Israel - but were blocked by 70 pro-war senators,
including every Republican present. Here's how the vote went. The
majority of Democratic Senators bucked AIPAC. _
Bernie Sanders and other senators speak at a press conference aimed
at blocking certain offensive weapon sales to Israel in Washington,
DC, on Nov. 19, 2024., Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu // Zeteo
Late Wednesday night, the US Senate once again blocked a Bernie
Sanders-led effort to end certain weapons sales to Israel, which is
currently starving 2 million Palestinians.
The resolutions, brought by Vermont independent Senator Sanders,
and Democratic Senators
[[link removed]] Jeff Merkley
(Ore.) and Peter Welch (V.T.) called to stop two tranches of weapons
sales:
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Senate Joint Resolution 34 – To prohibit the US-taxpayer financed
$675.7 million sale of 201 MK 83 1,000-pound bombs; 4,799 BLU-110A/B
General Purpose 1,000-pound bombs; 1,500 Joint Direct Attack Munition
(JDAM) guidance kits for MK 83 bombs; 3,500 JDAM guidance kits for MK
83 bombs; and related logistics and technical support services.
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Senate Joint Resolution 41 – To prohibit the sale of tens of
thousands of fully automatic assault rifles.
All told, TWENTY-SEVEN senators voted for at least one of the
resolutions. Not a single Republican voted for either of the
resolutions.
The figure was higher than Sanders’ attempt last year to get his
colleagues on the record on arms sales to Israel, when only 19
senators
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at least one of three resolutions at the time. Tonight however, a
majority of senators representing the Democratic Party voted in favor
of one of the two resolutions marks.
Wednesday’s vote came as famine conditions in Gaza, brought by
Israel’s siege, have significantly worsened. At least 154 people in
Gaza have died of starvation, a number that has exponentially
increased in recent days. Facing growing international pressure,
Israel announced so-called "tactical pauses" in fighting in certain
areas of Gaza and that it would allow aid drops. But the UN warned
[[link removed]] earlier Wednesday, "we
are still seeing casualties among those seeking aid and more deaths
due to hunger and malnutrition.” Israel's severe restrictions on aid
continue to significantly impede access.
Gaza medical sources told
[[link removed]] Al
Jazeera that at least 75 people, including 63 aid seekers, were killed
in Israeli attacks since early Wednesday morning.
While pro-Israel members of Congress have objected to _any_ cutting
of aid to Israel on the grounds that they will always support
Israel’s “right to defend itself,” Sanders' resolutions only
focused on some _offensive_ weapons.
A Palestinian woman and children run to take cover in Gaza City on
July 18, 2025. (Photo by Ahmed Younis/Middle East Images/Agence
France-Presse (AFP) // Zeteo)
The arms sales in question, Sanders said in a statement
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“clearly violate” standards laid out in the Foreign Assistance Act
and the Arms Export Control Act, which require that recipients of US
security assistance facilitate the delivery of US humanitarian aid and
not engage in gross violations of human rights, respectively.
“Reliable human rights monitors have documented numerous incidents
involving the use of 1,000-pound bombs and JDAMs in illegal strikes
leading to unacceptable civilian death tolls. These include strikes in
which hundreds of civilians have been killed and strikes on
humanitarian facilities, including UN schools,” Sanders noted,
adding that the “rifles in question will go to arm a police force
overseen by Itamar Ben-Gvir, who advocates for the forcible expulsion
of Palestinians from the region, who has been convicted of support for
terrorism by an Israeli court, and who has distributed weapons to
violent settlers in the West Bank.”
Sanders noted that Israeli forces and settlers have killed thousands
of Palestinians and six Americans
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West Bank in recent years (including earlier this month
[[link removed]]), and
that no one has been held accountable for the killings.
Here are the 27 senators who voted in favor of at least one of the
resolutions to block arms sales to Israel:
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Amy Klobuchar, (D-Minn.)
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Andy Kim (D-N.J.)
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Angela Alsobrooks, (D-Md.)
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Angus King (I-Maine)
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Ben Ray Luján, (D-N.M.)
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Bernie Sanders, (I-Vt.)
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Chris Murphy, (D-Conn.)
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Chris Van Hollen, (D-Md.)
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Dick Durbin, (D-Ill.)
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Elizabeth Warren, (D-Mass.)
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Ed Markey, (D-Mass.)
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Jack Reed, (D-R.I.)
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Jeff Merkley, (D-Ore.)
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Jeanne Shaheen, (D-N.H.)
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Jon Ossoff, (D-Ga.)
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Lisa Blunt Rochester, (D-Del.)
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Martin Heinrich, (D-N.M.)
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Mazie Hirono, (D-Hawaii)
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Patty Murray (D-Wash.)
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Raphael Warnock, (D-Ga.)
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Sheldon Whitehouse, (D-R.I.)
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Tammy Baldwin, (D-Wis.)
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Tammy Duckworth, (D-Ill.)
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Tina Smith, (D-Minn.)
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Peter Welch, (D-Vt.)
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Brian Schatz, (D-Hawaii)
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Tim Kaine, (D-Va.)
Here are the names of the 70 senators who voted against S.J.RES.41
[[link removed]] that
aimed to prohibit the sale of fully automatic assault rifles to Israel
and S.J.RES.34
[[link removed]] that
aimed to block the sales of certain defense articles and services to
Israel, within the context of the current genocide.
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Banks (R-IN)
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Barrasso (R-WY)
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Bennet (D-CO)
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Blackburn (R-TN)
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Blumenthal (D-CT)
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Booker (D-NJ)
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Boozman (R-AR)
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Britt (R-AL)
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Budd (R-NC)
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Cantwell (D-WA)
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Capito (R-WV)
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Cassidy (R-LA)
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Collins (R-ME)
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Coons (D-DE)
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Cornyn (R-TX)
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Cortez Masto (D-NV)
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Cotton (R-AR)
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Cramer (R-ND)
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Crapo (R-ID)
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Cruz (R-TX)
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Curtis (R-UT)
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Daines (R-MT)
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Ernst (R-IA)
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Fetterman (D-PA)
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Fischer (R-NE)
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Gillibrand (D-NY)
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Graham (R-SC)
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Grassley (R-IA)
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Hagerty (R-TN)
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Hassan (D-NH)
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Hawley (R-MO)
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Hickenlooper (D-CO)
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Hoeven (R-ND)
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Husted (R-OH)
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Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
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Johnson (R-WI)
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Justice (R-WV)
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Kennedy (R-LA)
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Lankford (R-OK)
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Lee (R-UT)
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Lummis (R-WY)
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Marshall (R-KS)
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McConnell (R-KY)
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McCormick (R-PA)
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Moody (R-FL)
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Moran (R-KS)
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Moreno (R-OH)
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Mullin (R-OK)
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Murkowski (R-AK)
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Padilla (D-CA)
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Paul (R-KY)
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Peters (D-MI)
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Ricketts (R-NE)
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Risch (R-ID)
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Rosen (D-NV)
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Rounds (R-SD)
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Schiff (D-CA)
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Schmitt (R-MO)
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Schumer (D-NY)
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Scott (R-FL)
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Scott (R-SC)
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Sheehy (R-MT)
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Sullivan (R-AK)
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Thune (R-SD)
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Tillis (R-NC)
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Tuberville (R-AL)
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Warner (D-VA)
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Wicker (R-MS)
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Wyden (D-OR)
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Young (R-IN)
**Senators Gallego and Kelly from Arizona, and Slotkin from Michigan
did not vote.
_Have a tip for Prem? Send via email or Signal (premthakker.35)._
_Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct Senator Kim’s
first name and to add Senators King and Murray’s votes._
* Senate Dems
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* Senate Democrats
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* Bernie Sanders
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* Jeff Merkley
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* Peter Welch
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* U.S.-Israel military aid
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* AIPAC
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* military weapons
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* Genocide
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* starvation
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* Ceasefire
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* Gaza
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* Palestine
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* Israel
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* Israel-Gaza War
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* Benjamin Netanyahu
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* Donald Trump
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* Chuck Schumer
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* Elections 2026
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* 2026 Midterms
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* Senate GOP
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