House Task Force May Propose Joint Office to Track Arms Sales Reviews
The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s arms sales task force is considering recommending that the Trump administration create a joint “fusion cell” or office to help industry track the U.S. government’s review of defense export requests, a key lawmaker said July 2.
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The cell, which would bring together personnel from multiple departments, including Commerce, Defense and State, is intended to address long-standing concerns that the export review process is plagued by a lack of transparency, said Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., who chairs the task force. The opaque process has frustrated U.S. defense firms, who depend on foreign militaries for much of their business.
"No one's in charge and the system has become so bureaucratic that it's not transparent," Zinke told Export Compliance Daily. “There has to be someone in charge running this to make sure we track it and we know where things are."
The fusion cell would track Foreign Military Sales efforts, which the State Department manages in partnership with the Defense Department; Direct Commercial Sales export license requests, which State regulates; and dual-use items controlled by the Commerce Department. While determining who would lead the cell would be a subject of future discussions with the administration, one possibility would be to have the leadership role rotate among departments every two or four years, Zinke said.
The administration also has expressed interest in revamping the arms sales process. An executive order President Donald Trump signed in April calls for improving “accountability and transparency throughout the foreign defense sales system to ensure predictable and reliable delivery of American products to foreign partners in support of United States foreign policy objectives” (see 2504100009). It also directs the drafting of a plan to develop a single electronic system to track FMS and DCS activities.
Zinke said his task force also could endorse raising the congressional notification thresholds for arms sales to adjust for inflation and geopolitical changes. He introduced a bill to that effect in May (see 2505290071).
Zinke said he hopes to release a report on the task force’s findings before the August congressional recess. The task force has held several closed-door meetings with defense industry representatives since its formation was announced in January (see 2506050069 and 2501220086).