Washington, DC -- Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today condemned the Trump administration for again invoking emergency authorities to bypass Congressional review of arms sales.

“The Trump administration’s latest use of emergency authorities to bypass Congressional review for over $25 billion in arms is yet another deeply troubling example of this administration’s contempt for Congress's oversight authority.

"Of the cases included only one contains defense articles ready for immediate export. The administration is using the veneer of an emergency declaration to push through sales with no urgent nexus to current conflicts. That is not an emergency. That is an abuse of authority, and the Congress was deliberately cut out.

"In this instance multiple large dollar value cases were not even previewed to Congressional committees as is standard and long-standing practice.

“As I have said before, this is an emergency of the administration’s own making. This arms transfer reflects a broader pattern: ignoring the law, bypassing Congress, and making major national security decisions without transparency or accountability while dragging the country deeper into a war of choice."

###