The Trump Administration is looking at options, according to officials, to find a way to end a decades-old practice of notifying Congress about major US arms sales to foreign powers, with an eye toward ending the Congressional oversight and review of such sales.
This appears to be driven by the number of times that Congress has tried to hold up sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both over concern about war crimes in Yemen and about where those arms ultimately end up, in violation of US conditions for the sales.
Even though Congress has a right to put holds on these sales, its not clear they have been able to do much anyhow, with President Trump claiming a state of national emergency to circumvent restrictions and keep selling arms to the Saudis.
Bogus claims of an emergency are somewhat embarrassing, it seems, or at least inconvenient enough that the administration figures that the path of least resistance would be to just stop informing Congress about the sales in the first place, precluding any judgment.
Well I suppose the founders forgot to enumerate what part of the government is responsible for running our arms trade…..
Thank God Trump is willing to step up and assume the responsibility of running our state-owned businesses… Otherwise some pesky socialist might sneak in their corrupt economic system to destroy our ‘Capitalism’.
Under old Constitution while Executive Branch.could initiate a treaty arrangement. Trade or mutual security pact, in order for it to become effective and as a “Law of the Land” , It needed Congressional approval.
Congress?
For all intent and purposes Congress surrendered the last vistages of its its war making powers and became a mutt vying for scraps dropped from Executive Branch tables.even before FISA Court, Patriot Act, Homeland Security, and became dead and buried with Obamas midnight signing of Bill accepting its surrender to Executive Branch.
Please…. realize that the abuse by the executive of the War Powers has been in constant use since the end of WWII, this is self evident by the very fact that the US has been constantly at war, but has NEVER declared it! That means that the US has Constantly done what it accused Japan of doing at Pearl Harbor! The best way of fixing Presidents that abuse their powers is to Bring them to trial for War Crimes. Be absolutely clear there is argument that Trump could be charged with War Crimes for the Pardoning of the Navy Seal a few months back, and while the Constitution gives him the Power to Pardon the Geneva conventions say it is a War Crime. 4th Schedule Articles 146 to 148, Trumps Pardon effectively absolves the United States of America from War Crimes and it was Trump that did the absolving.
Article 148
No High Contracting Party shall be allowed to absolve itself or any other High Contracting Party of any liability incurred by itself or by another High Contracting Party in respect of breaches referred to in the preceding Article.
We should be clear that The United States would not have stood for Adolf Hitler pardoning Nazi War criminals (if he had have survived), the question is why should the World stand for Trump doing the same thing, The Geneva Conventions are US Treaty Law ratified by two thirds of the US senate and signed into Law by a US president. Now I believe the Same could be done for Many Presidents, and believe me if the US people held their Presidents up to such legal scrutiny they would suddenly start to abide by the Law.
WTF is the state of emergency?
Probably COVID-19, but take your pick…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Emergencies_in_the_United_States
COVID wouldn’t require arm sales to anyone.
Taiwan is pursuing a separation and independence agenda based on COVID-19, starting with representation on the WHO.