Sens. Rick Scott and Ashley Moody, both R-Fla., urged the Trump administration last week to continue using “maximum pressure,” including sanctions, to pressure Venezuela to release "wrongfully imprisoned" Americans.
Three Senate Democrats urged the Trump administration July 3 to restart regular updates of sanctions and export controls against Chinese and other entities helping Russia’s war machine.
The Government Accountability Office announced July 1 that it has published a restricted report, “Foreign Military Sales: DOD Is Not Meeting Timeliness Goals, but Efforts to Improve Process and Workforce Are Underway.”
Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Wash., introduced a bill June 27 to require the State Department to develop “expedited and fixed timelines” for licensing decisions for certain defense exports, according to Congress.gov. The bill was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Baumgartner’s office didn’t respond to a request for more information.
Several Republican and Democratic lawmakers welcomed President Donald Trump’s executive order this week to remove certain financial sanctions on Syria (see 2506300055).
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, introduced a resolution June 27 urging the use of “targeted economic sanctions” against entities and individuals in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo who are “corrupt, obstructing peace, perpetrating violence, or committing human rights abuses.”
Rep. Sheri Biggs, R-S.C., introduced a bill June 27 that would direct the State Department to review annually whether any defense exports available through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program but not the Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) licensing process should become eligible for the more flexible DCS process.
Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Anna Luna, R-Fla., introduced a bill June 27 that would end U.S. sanctions on Syria to help the country rebuild following the collapse of the Bashar Assad regime.
Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., introduced a bill June 26 that would reauthorize the Federal Maritime Commission from FY 2026 to FY 2029 and give the agency several new tools to protect ocean shipping.
Reps. Young Kim, R-Calif., Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., and Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., introduced a bill June 27 aimed at improving defense trade within the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) security partnership, especially the technology development collaboration activities envisioned under Pillar II.