Trump Administration May End Congressional Review of Foreign Arms Sales

All of those deals, which have not previously been reported, are being held up by lawmakers over questions about how the items will be used. Under the current system, the State Department gives informal notification to relevant foreign policy committees in Congress of proposed arms sales. The lawmakers then give input to administration officials, which helps agencies in making adjustments to ensure the sales get approved by Congress as a whole.

Under this informal process, lawmakers can hold up sales, which is what both Republican and Democratic senators have done with arms sales to Gulf Arab nations.

Once any differences are resolved, the administration gives Congress formal notification of the arms sales, which then starts a 30-day period when lawmakers can object.

If the administration scraps the informal notification process, it would tell Congress of proposed arms sales only through the formal process. That framework allows members of Congress to introduce and vote on resolutions to disapprove of certain sales. But to actually block a deal, a measure would require support from two-thirds of both chambers to overcome an inevitable presidential veto.

Any decision to end the informal process would further alienate lawmakers from both parties, current and former officials said.

“This is not just a thumb in the eye to Democrats, this is a thumb in the eye to Republicans and to all of Congress,” said Max Bergmann, a senior adviser at the State Department during the Obama administration who had helped oversee military sales. “The way the arms sale process has worked is one of the rare bipartisan mechanisms that has existed no matter who controls the White House and Congress.”

Mr. Menendez, the Democratic senator, said ending the informal notification system would make the process harder for all sides. “The American public has a right to insist that the sales of U.S. weapons to foreign governments are consistent with U.S. values and national security objectives,” he said.