Scoop: Trump officials re-engage with Congress on foreign weapons sales
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President Trump during an executive order signing on Nov. 13. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Trump administration is ramping up its engagements with Congress on foreign military sales and plans to provide more classified briefings on military operations, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Why it matters: The administration's moves come amid mounting frustration from lawmakers over a lack of briefings on alleged drug boat strikes and the slowdown in the approval process for foreign military sales.
- On weapons sales, the administration cited staffing shortages caused by the government shutdown.
- More than $5 billion in U.S. weapon exports to support NATO allies and Ukraine were delayed during the shutdown, according to a State Department estimate.
Driving the news: This week, the State Department sent nearly two dozen draft notifications for foreign weapons sales to Congress, totaling tens of billions of dollars, according to another person familiar with the matter.
- The new military notifications were sent while the government was officially still closed.
- But there's still a backlog of approvals for weapons sales. For sales to NATO allies, the ultimate destination of the exports is often Ukraine.
What they're saying: "The State Department Bureau of Political-Military Affairs is back to nearly full staffing to process arms sales," according to a State Department spokesperson.
- "However, there is now a backlog of approximately 30% above normal in pending license applications that could not be reviewed while the relevant interagency personnel were furloughed. This backlog will require significant time and resources to process."
Zoom out: On Capitol Hill, lawmakers and aides have complained that briefings from State and Defense officials became less frequent. And administration witnesses for hearings were difficult to schedule, they said.
- Trump caught wind of Congress' frustration, especially over military strikes of suspected Venezuelan drug boats. He ordered more briefings for lawmakers.
- "I keep getting calls about this from congressmen," Trump explained in a recent meeting with top officials, Axios reported this month.
The bottom line: The approval process for foreign military sales is complicated and time-consuming.
- But approvals of weapons sales are likely to ramp up in the coming weeks.
