Trump Admin Uses Wartime Powers to Sidestep Congress and Push $23B in Arms Sales to Gulf States

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The Trump administration moved Friday to force through more than $23 billion in weapons sales to key Middle Eastern allies by invoking emergency powers to bypass Congress and fast-track deals that lawmakers had yet to approve.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that “an emergency exists requiring the immediate approval of critical arms transfers for Middle East partners currently under attack by Iran,” according to a State Department statement.

The use of emergency authority to override Congress is legal under the Arms Export Control Act.

The sales to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Jordan include 11 separate arms packages. Some of the deals had been under review on Capitol Hill, while others had not even been formally submitted to Congress.

The emergency declaration allows the administration to sidestep the long-standing congressional oversight process governing foreign arms transfers, a mechanism designed to give senior lawmakers time to scrutinize deals worth billions.

It marks the second time in less than two weeks the administration has used the rarely invoked authority, following an earlier decision to bypass Congress on a major shipment of weapons to Israel after joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Under normal procedures, the State Department must notify the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee of proposed sales, allowing lawmakers to review, delay, or raise objections before formal approval is granted. That process can take weeks or months.

The New York Times reviewed the items on the proposed packages, reporting that the UAE is set to receive Chinook helicopters, drones, Patriot missile systems, air-to-air missiles, and advanced missile defence radar, along with upgrades for F-16 fighter jets, while Kuwait’s deal centres on air and missile defence systems worth billions and Jordan’s package focuses on F-16 upgrades.

President Donald Trump used the same legal mechanism in 2019 to accelerate $8 billion in arms sales to Gulf states, but triggered a federal investigation and bipartisan attempts in Congress to block the deals. Former President Joe Biden also used the powers twice during his term to sell weapons to Israel during its campaign in Gaza against Hamas.

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