Trump’s move to force Saudi arms deal sparks anger among Congress
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will bypass Congress to approve the sale of more than $2 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia, sparking bipartisan objections by citing a rarely used provision in the Arms Export Control Act, according to Sen. Bob Menendez.
The provision lets President Donald Trump circumvent the normal process for congressional approval by declaring an emergency that requires the sales to go through immediately “in the national security interests of the United States.”
“I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump administration has failed once again to prioritize our long term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favors to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia,” Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement Friday.
The move is one more example of tension between the legislative and executive branches, as Trump also tests the limits of his constitutional authority in how government contracts are awarded, where taxpayer money is spent and to what extent he must cooperate with congressional oversight of his administration.
While most Republican lawmakers have stood by Trump, even allies like South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham have expressed concern about the precedent this sets for overruling Congress. Graham said Thursday that the Senate has “tools to deal with the administration,” but he has not yet indicated what action he and other lawmakers would try to take.
“There’s pretty widespread concern that now’s not the time to go back to business as usual with Saudi Arabia,” Graham said, adding that he voiced his concerns to Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.
For more than a year, Menendez has had a hold on $2 billion in precision-guided munitions kits for Saudi Arabia and an additional $1 billion sale to the United Arab Emirates over concerns about civilian casualties from the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. Other lawmakers have placed holds on other Saudi arms sales.
Trump’s first foreign visit as president was to Saudi Arabia, and he has cultivated a close relationship with the country he considers to be a crucial ally in his efforts to isolate Iran. Yet both Democrats and Republicans have urged the U.S. to hold the Saudis accountable for the killing last October of columnist Jamal Khashoggi and for the kingdom’s role in Yemen’s civil war.
Menendez said Thursday there would be bipartisan opposition if the Trump administration overrules the holds, and he warned that the companies involved may face consequences.
“Any attempt to export under that provision would be a violation of the Export Control Act,” Menendez said in an interview. “Do they want to subject themselves to the liability of that?”