{"id":37429,"date":"2018-10-18T08:00:06","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T08:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/10\/18\/will-congress-really-cancel-us-saudi-arms-deals-its-complicated-but-let-us-explain\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:51:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:51:39","slug":"will-congress-really-cancel-us-saudi-arms-deals-its-complicated-but-let-us-explain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/10\/18\/will-congress-really-cancel-us-saudi-arms-deals-its-complicated-but-let-us-explain\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Congress really cancel US-Saudi arms deals? It\u2019s complicated, but let us explain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Have you been wondering whether U.S.-Saudi arms deals can survive allegations the Saudi government killed Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, so are we.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A growing chorus of U.S. lawmakers, mostly Senate Democrats, say its time to cut the kingdom off. But President Donald Trump has<\/a> repeatedly<\/a> said<\/a> that\u2019s a no-go, with $110 billion in proposed deals hanging in the balance. (Of that total, Saudi Arabia has signed letters of offer and acceptance for $14.5 billion in \u201chelicopters, tanks, ships, weapons, and training,\u201d according to the Pentagon.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee\u2019s top Democrat, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., has a months long hold<\/a> on the proposed sale of U.S. precision-guided bomb kits to Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The committee\u2019s chairman, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., has pointed the finger at the Saudi royal family in Khashoggi\u2019s alleged death and said now\u2019s not the time to ask Congress to approve U.S.-Saudi deals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is again proposing legislation to end U.S. involvement in Yemen. And in a sign of the shifting politics<\/a>, the Senate Armed Services Committee\u2019s top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed, said Wednesday the U.S. should stop refueling jets the Saudis use to conduct airstrikes in Yemen \u2014 a switch after Reed voted against Sanders’ resolution months earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will this all blow over?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer is eventually, maybe, but it\u2019s complicated. Pressure to punish Saudi Arabia is growing as more damning details become public, such as the alleged links<\/a> between one of the suspects and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and that Khashoggi was tortured to death<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, some wonkery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To advance a proposed arms sale, the U.S. State Department, by decades-old tradition, grants the \u201cfour corners\u201d \u2014 the top Democrat and Republican on the House and Senate Foreign Relations committees \u2014 an informal review period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During that time, those four lawmakers can pause a sale while the administration answers their questions and concerns. These holds are not typically made public, but in this case Menendez has been openly frustrated with civilian casualties caused by Saudi airstrikes and skeptical that the administration is sufficiently leveraging the sales to end the war through diplomacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such holds can be elastic, but they\u2019re not meant to be indefinite or a congressional veto. And after the review period, the State Department can advance a sale to the Senate. There, lawmakers have 30 days to seek answers from the executive branch.<\/p>\n\n\n\t