Sen. Bernie Sanders is introducing joint resolutions of disapproval Thursday over several U.S. arms sales to Israel amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the Vermont independent’s office tells Blue Light News.

The resolutions take aim at a combined $658 million worth of munitions sales. Joining Sanders as cosponsors are Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Peter Welch of Vermont.

“Given the horrific destruction that Israel’s extremist government has wrought on Gaza, Iran and Lebanon, the last thing in the world that American taxpayers need to do right now is to provide 22,000 new bombs to the Netanyahu government,” Sanders said in a statement. “No more weapons to support an illegal war.”

Once introduced, the Senate Foreign Relations panel has five calendar days to consider the resolutions. After that, the cosponsors can force a simple-majority floor vote to discharge the resolution from committee.

The vote could be an uncomfortable one for some Democrats, who would be forced to go on the record just as support for Israel emerges as a key fault line this year’s Democratic primary races.

It’s Markwayne Mullin’s day of reckoning after a fiery Senate hearing Wednesday.

The Oklahoma Republican will likely secure the votes he needs at the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Thursday, though it’s not a sure thing. If things go as expected, he could be confirmed as DHS secretary early next week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told Blue Light News.

But Wednesday’s drama at HSGAC — the only obvious chokepoint for his nomination — heralds some real issues going forward given the fierce opposition Mullin encountered from Chair Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and tough questioning from Democrats.

— One angry chair: Paul told reporters Mullin’s anger issues and his expression of sympathy for the man who attacked and severely injured Paul in 2017 means “he’s unfit to be leading a large law enforcement agency.”

But Paul made clear his personal opposition would not preclude showing “courtesy to the White House,” and he vowed to move forward with Thursday’s 9:30 a.m. vote.

The chair predicted Mullin would still advance with the help of at least one Democrat. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) appears open to supporting Mullin, though he would not commit publicly to backing him Wednesday, saying only his “mind is still open.”

Even if Mullin stalls in the panel vote, Paul suggested the White House could ask for a “negative recommendation,” allowing a floor vote to proceed. “I mean, there are things I would consider,” he said.

But he also made clear he will be watching Mullin closely as he takes the reins at DHS — especially immigration enforcement agencies that have been plagued by use-of-force controversies.

“We’re going to go fast with the nomination hearing. We’re going to go fast with the vote. But I can’t vote for a guy who’s got anger” issues, Paul said.

— Many skeptical Democrats: Mullin presented himself during Wednesday’s hearing as a different type of leader than ousted Secretary Kristi Noem. Democrats weren’t receptive.

“My goal at six months is that we’re not in the lead story every single day,” Mullin said. “My goal is for people to understand we’re out there. We’re protecting them.”

Mullin indicated he’d reverse a controversial administration decision allowing ICE agents to enter homes with only an administrative warrant, not a signoff from a judge. Ending that practice is a huge sticking point for Democrats in DHS funding talks.

But several HSGAC Democrats like Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Ruben Gallego of Arizona said after the hearing that Mullin’s comments aren’t a ray of hope for breaking the shutdown impasse. At least not yet.

“Openness [to judicial warrants] doesn’t mean anything to me until I see it in actual legislation,” Gallego told Blue Light News.

What else we’re watching: 

— Gabbard takes the stand again: The House Intelligence committee will have a hearing on worldwide threats to American security, with testimony from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, FBI Director Kash Patel, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and other officials at 8:30 a.m.

— Sanders to force vote on Israel arms sale: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is introducing joint resolutions of disapproval Thursday over several U.S. arms sales to Israel amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, his office tells Blue Light News. The resolutions take aim at a combined $658 million worth of munitions sales.

— Next Epstein deposition: Darren Indyke, a lawyer for Jeffrey Epstein and a co-executor of his estate, will testify before the House Oversight committee Thursday in a highly anticipated closed-door deposition. Eager for answers about Epstein’s crimes, lawmakers are amid a series of closed-door sessions with people who are seen as close to the late convicted sex offender, including his accountant Richard Kahn and client Les Wexner.

Jordain Carney and Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.

House Democrats say Attorney General Pam Bondi is attempting to evade a congressional subpoena to testify about the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffery Epstein case.

Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Wednesday evening walked out of a closed door briefing with Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, saying the nation’s lead prosecutor declined to commit to cooperating with a subpoena issued by the panel’s Republican chair earlier this week.

The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, told reporters his members had only been informed about the planned Oversight briefing with Bondi and Blanche the day before. He accused the Trump administration officials of trying to stage “some kind of fake hearing” to avoid Bondi testifying under oath.

“This has been completely set up in a way that’s been irresponsible. And quite frankly, we believe a way for the Attorney General to get out of her answering questions under oath and to the public,” Garcia said.

It marks the latest escalation in the House Oversight’s partisan splintering around its Epstein investigation. Though five Republicans joined Democrats on the House Oversight Committee earlier this year to subpoena Bondi, the two parties continue to differ in their approaches to the probe and their treatment of prospective witnesses.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Bondi said she “will follow the law” when asked if she would commit to cooperating with the subpoena. She also extolled the work done under the Trump administration to promote transparency in the Epstein case.

“We were there to answer questions,” she said. “It’s the evening. We came at their convenience. We gave them as really, as much time as they wanted.”

A House Oversight GOP spokesperson said this week the Justice Department requested the opportunity to speak to lawmakers while details of Bondi’s deposition are sorted out, which could take time. Wednesday’s closed-door briefing with Bondi was far less formal than a deposition, with neither Bondi nor Blanche speaking under oath or having their comments recorded to be made public down the road.

But in the event Bondi does not comply, it’s not clear how Republicans on the committee would respond. Earlier this year, the panel approved measures to hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt for failing to appear for their scheduled subpoenas, which eventually forced the former first couple to testify.

Rep. Summer Lee (D-Penn.) said she asked House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) during the Wednesday briefing whether he would compel Bondi to appear for her deposition through pursuit of contempt proceedings as he had for the Clintons.

“Instead of answering as an adult, he said that I was ‘bitching’ — which is, again, something that would not be allowed if we were operating under the rules of this committee, because engaging in personalities is actually something that we are not able to do,” Lee said of Comer. “If C-SPAN and the public were there, I’d imagine that he would not act that way.”

Comer later confirmed that Lee’s account of the exchange was accurate. He said he did not personally see a purpose for Bondi’s sworn deposition and that the saga was a plot by Democrats intended to embarrass her.

“This was clearly the Democrats’ plan all along: to walk out of the briefing the DOJ offered to provide,” said the GOP spokesperson for the Oversight panel in a statement. “Both Attorney General Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Blanche were answering substantive questions, and Attorney General Bondi stated she would follow the law regarding her subpoena. It’s clear Democrats don’t want answers or justice for survivors; they just want theatrics for their latest partisan stunt.”

A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.

Lawmakers of both parties have been highly critical of Bondi and her department’s handling of the release of materials in the Epstein case, arguing that it had bungled the redactions in what files were made public and slow-walked their release. Democrats have gone so far as to accuse the administration of a cover-up in the case.

Bondi and the Justice Department have brushed aside lawmakers’ concerns around their handling of the Epstein matter, arguing that DOJ has complied with the law Congress passed last year compelling the full release of the files related to the late convicted sex offender.

“I wish we’d had a briefing sooner,” Comer told reporters Wednesday. “I think a breakdown of communication’s been a part of the problem too.”