State Department Taps Official to Improve Defense Export Process
The State Department has designated Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Michael Rigas to be its “point person” for speeding up the government’s review of defense exports, Rigas told the House Foreign Affairs Committee July 15.
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“I understand that process just takes too long -- both the foreign direct military sales and the commercial sales,” he testified. He plans to work with his Defense Department counterparts “to find opportunities to streamline that process, make it more effective.”
His comments came in response to committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., who noted that President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April calling for more accountability and transparency in the arms sales process (see 2504100009). Rigas said that Trump’s push to have NATO member countries increase their defense spending “is going be a big impetus to streamlining this process as well.”
Both houses of Congress also are pursuing ways to improve the arms sales process. A task force formed by Mast’s committee has been studying the topic for months and could soon release a report on its findings (see 2507020022). The Senate version of the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, released July 11, calls for creating a “data czar” to improve the tracking of information about the Foreign Military Sales program (see 2507110022).