The Trump administration is making good on its promise that Operation Epic Fury was “just the beginning” of U.S. combat operations in the Middle East, sending $650 million worth of munitions to Israel over the weekend.
The shipment of 20,000 bombs came after President Donald Trump announced Friday that Defense manufacturing contractors will quadruple production of “Exquisite Class” weaponry. He added that “Plants and Production of many of these Weapons are already under way.”
Democrats quickly condemned Trump’s invocation of the Arms Export Control Act’s emergency authority to bypass Congress.
“The Trump administration has repeatedly insisted it was fully prepared for this war. Rushing to invoke emergency authority to circumvent Congress tells a different story,” U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., the Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said. “This is an emergency of the Trump administration’s own creation.”
Lawmakers had already expressed concerns about the cost of the conflict on American taxpayers, with some analysts estimating upwards of $890 million per day.
Congress never authorized the ongoing military hostilities in Iran, although two war powers resolutions to curtail operations have both failed.
As of Monday, the conflict has taken the lives of seven U.S. service members.
“Fundamental questions about this unauthorized war remain unanswered: What is the endgame? What preparations have been made to protect American citizens in the region? And how much will this war cost the American people?” Meeks added. “The administration has provided no credible answers. The American people deserve answers, and Congress must demand them.”
In statements to the press, Trump and Department of Defense officials have indicated that the end goal is to cripple Iran’s military power, prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons, and instigate regime change in Iran.
The first joint coordinated U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but one of his sons, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is already preparing to take his place.
