US bypasses congressional review for military sales of $8.6 billion to Middle East allies

Source: Reuters

US bypasses congressional review for military sales of $8.6 billion to Middle East allies

By Kanishka Singh
Fri, May 1, 2026 at 9:05 PM EDT
2 min read

WASHINGTON, May 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has bypassed congressional review to approve military sales totaling over $8.6 billion to Middle Eastern allies Israel, Qatar, ‌Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

The State Department announcements on Friday came as the U.S. ‌and Israel's war against Iran marked nine weeks since its start and more than three weeks since a fragile ceasefire ​came into effect.

The State Department said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that an emergency existed that required immediate sales to those countries and waived the congressional review requirements for the sales.

The announcements included approving military sales to Qatar of Patriot air and missile defense replenishment services costing $4.01 billion and of ‌Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS) costing $992.4 ⁠million.

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Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/us-approves-military-sales-over-223148418.html