02-07-2025
Exclusive: Changes to U.S. weapons sales mustn't be "haphazard," says Rep. Dean
It's too soon to tell whether President Trump's April executive order meant to expedite arms sales to foreign militaries will help or hurt the often complicated process, Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Penn.) told Axios.
Why it matters: Widespread adoption of American weapons is a sign of power, both hard and soft.
Dean is among the dozen lawmakers assigned to the House Foreign Arms Sales Task Force, an offshoot of the chamber's Foreign Affairs Committee.
What they're saying: "I worry about all of the president's executive orders because they are haphazard," Dean said at an Axios event last week in Washington.
"We do not want a system of foreign military sales, for example, that is just haphazard," she said.
State of play: The value of weapons, services and other activities handled by the foreign military sales system in fiscal 2024 totaled $118 billion.
That's a nearly 46% increase compared to fiscal 2023, according to the State Department.
Notifications made to Congress included tanks for Bahrain and Romania, helicopters for South Korea and Greece, and missiles for Poland and Norway.
Catch up quick: The bipartisan task force launched in March with the stated goal of "crafting legislative reforms to ensure the foreign arms sales process meets the demands of the future." Trump's foreign sales fiat rolled out weeks later.
