Congress set to weaken oversight on foreign US arms sales
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Congress is preparing to vote on bills that would accelerate US arms sales by reducing oversight, a measure that could fuel human rights abuses and war crimes.
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The US Capitol, Wednesday, July 16, 2025, in Washington (AP)
As early as next Tuesday, Congress will vote on two bills designed to accelerate US weapons transfers to foreign buyers by shortening congressional review periods and, in some cases, eliminating the requirement to notify lawmakers about the sales altogether, Responsible Statecraft reported on Friday.
While arms sales to countries like "Israel" or Ukraine have dominated media coverage, congressional debate, and public scrutiny, they represent only a fraction of US weapons transfers, as the United States routinely supplies arms to more than 100 nations annually, including roughly a third that Freedom House designates as “not free".
A Quincy Institute study conducted under the Biden administration revealed that US-supplied weapons were present on one or both sides in 34 out of 46 active global conflicts at the time.
While some US arms transfers, such as military aid to Ukraine, support the stated US policy goal of enabling allies to defend themselves without requiring American troop deployments, many other transfers contribute to grave human rights abuses or intensify dangerous conflicts globally.
Even as growing weapons transfers damage US security interests worldwide, Congress is poised to approve bills next week that would slash vetting requirements for future arms sales, prioritizing faster processing over scrutiny.
A bill that enables war crimes
According to Responsible Statecraft, this reckless approach threatens to undermine the security of the US and its allies by abandoning critical oversight, effectively surrendering Congress’ duty to properly evaluate whether arms deals will promote stability or further inflame tensions in already unstable regions like the Middle East and North Africa, as well as other conflict zones worldwide.
One of the bills in question, introduced by Rep. Mike Lawler, is the "Abraham Accords Defense Against Terror Act," a legislation that seeks to expedite arms transfers to nations that have joined the normalization accords, such as Morocco, Bahrain, and the UAE.
According to Responsible Statecraft, Lawler's bill would also expedite weapons transfers to "Israel", which many independent experts accuse of committing genocide in Gaza.
Claims that bringing these repressive and reckless regimes together will promote peace in the region are, at best, naive optimism, and, at worst, a dangerous and morally compromising deal.
More deals set to go unreported
Responsible Statecraft pointed at another bill that would raise the reporting threshold for arms sales to Congress, although even under current limits, unreported transfers have allowed many regimes, including "Israel", to conduct civilian attacks without accountability, making this expansion of executive branch secrecy all the more indefensible.
According to The Washington Post, during the initial phase of "Israel's" war on Gaza, the US conducted over 100 unreported arms transactions with Tel Aviv by exploiting the current reporting threshold loophole, and raising these limits would further empower administrations to bypass congressional and public oversight when supplying weapons to problematic regimes.
Responsible Statecraft concluded by pointing out that Congress has to strengthen its ability to block arms deals, since reducing oversight would undermine legislative input on critical national security decisions.
