U.S. Foreign Arms Sales and Oversight

The Trump administration has invoked a wartime emergency under the Arms Export Control Act to bypass Congress and push through more than $23 billion in weapons sales to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Jordan, the second such move since the U.S.–Israeli war with Iran began. Secretary of State Marco Rubio formally determined that an emergency exists requiring immediate approval of the arms transfers because those partners are under attack by Iran, allowing the State Department to skip the usual House and Senate review. The new package covers 11 separate arms orders, including some deals that were under informal review by lawmakers and others for which Congress had not even received preliminary notice, according to a U.S. official. The administration previously used the same emergency authority days after launching strikes on Iran to bypass Congress on a sale of more than 20,000 bombs to Israel, and follows similar but less frequent emergency waivers used by the Biden administration during the Gaza war. House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast, a Florida Republican, praised Rubio’s move and blamed top committee Democrat Gregory Meeks for holding up some exports, underscoring a widening clash over how much war‑time latitude the White House is claiming to run foreign arms policy with minimal congressional oversight.