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Were there congressional approvals or presidential emergency transfers for aid to Israel during Trump's presidency?
Executive summary
Congress did approve large emergency supplemental appropriations for Israel in 2024 (including billions in FMF and missile‑defense funds) and, separately, the Trump administration used emergency authorities in early 2025 to expedite roughly $4 billion in arms transfers to Israel without the usual extended congressional review (Congress had already enacted major emergency packages in 2024) [1] [2] [3]. Available sources show both congressional emergency appropriations and presidential emergency export declarations were used in this period; reporting and analysis disagree about whether those executive actions “bypassed” meaningful oversight [1] [2] [4].
1. Congress approved major emergency supplemental aid in 2024 — the legislative track
After the October 7, 2023 attacks and subsequent regional escalations, Congress enacted emergency supplemental appropriations that provided billions above the baseline MOU levels — for example, FY2024 measures and later continuing resolutions included FMF and missile‑defense funding, and CRS reporting documents Congress’ provision of supplemental military assistance and additional missile‑defense appropriations in 2024 [1] [5]. Reporting and watchdog summaries cite an April 2024 statutory package and related FY2024 emergency laws that together moved substantial appropriations through the normal congressional appropriation process [1] [5].
2. The Trump administration declared emergencies to speed arms deliveries in 2025 — the executive track
In early 2025 the Trump administration invoked Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act and related emergency authorities to fast‑track several Foreign Military Sales cases — including a declaration covering four FMS cases totaling nearly $4 billion — and State Department and White House materials described signing a declaration to use emergency authorities to expedite delivery of roughly $4 billion in military assistance [2] [3] [6]. Press outlets (PBS, Times of Israel) reported Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed to waive the usual congressional review and to lift prior Biden‑era restrictions on certain items [7] [8].
3. How the two tracks interacted — approvals vs. notifications
CRS and EveryCRS reporting distinguishes congressional appropriations (legislative approval of emergency supplemental funding) from executive notifications and export licensing (administration decisions to declare emergencies and issue or waive Section 36(b) notifications). Congress appropriated billions in FY2024 emergency funds and later bills for Israel, while the executive branch separately notified Congress of specific arms sales or used emergency authorities to accelerate deliveries that otherwise would follow a longer congressional review process [1] [2].
4. Disputes over “bypassing Congress” and oversight implications
Some analysts, advocacy groups, and members of Congress characterized the Trump administration’s use of emergency authorities as circumventing congressional review — for example, criticism that emergency declarations were used “in lieu of” the traditional notification and review and amounted to a bypass of committee oversight [4] [9]. Other official statements framed the moves as lawful uses of executive authority to meet urgent security needs and as reversals of prior administration restrictions, noting the administration still provided notifications and cited statutory emergency authority [3] [6]. Available sources present competing framings: legal/administrative justification from the executive branch and oversight/rights‑of‑Congress concerns from critics [3] [4].
5. Scale and cumulative totals reported by watchdogs and think tanks
Independent counts and think‑tank tallies indicate very large flows of weapons and assistance across the Biden and Trump periods: totals since October 2023 run into the tens of billions in combined military assistance and notified arms sales, with estimates like at least $21.7 billion in military aid through 2025 and multiple individual arms notifications or offers during the Trump administration worth billions more [10] [11]" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">[11]. CRS and EveryCRS documents trace the statutory appropriations by Congress (including specific FMF and missile‑defense line items) while other analyses focus on notifications and export licences that followed [5] [2].
6. Limits of available reporting and what’s not covered
Available sources do not provide a single consolidated ledger reconciling every congressional appropriation, every FMS notification, and every expedited delivery against final deliveries and contracts; some independent tallies rely on public notifications and reporting and note the data are partial [12] [10]. If you want a definitive, line‑by‑line accounting of each transfer date, funding source, and legal mechanism (appropriation vs. emergency export declaration) available sources do not mention an authoritative consolidated dataset covering every item and payment contemporaneously [12].
7. Bottom line for your question
Yes — Congress passed emergency supplemental appropriations for Israel in 2024, and the Trump administration later used presidential/executive emergency authorities in 2025 to accelerate roughly $4 billion in arms transfers and to approve additional weapons sales notified to Congress; observers disagree about whether those executive declarations improperly sidestepped congressional oversight or were legitimate urgent uses of statutory authority [1] [2] [3] [4].