Overview
- Lawmakers, who voted Wednesday, rejected resolutions to stop a $295 million sale of Caterpillar D9 bulldozers and a $151.8 million sale of 12,000 1,000-pound bombs by votes of 59-40 and 63-36.
- About 40 Democrats backed the bulldozer measure and 36 backed the bomb measure, a record for the caucus that included flips by Mark Kelly and Adam Schiff.
- Republicans united to block both measures, arguing that cutting off transfers would weaken an ally and encourage Iran.
- Sanders framed the effort as enforcing the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act after Trump used emergency authority to speed the sales.
- Protests pushed senators before the votes, with nearly 100 arrests at demonstrations urging New York’s Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand to support the measures, highlighting growing public pressure on the issue.