What Did They Say?

Sep 17, 2026

The Administration Notifies Congress of a $24.3 Billion Sale of 48 F-35s to Saudi Arabia as a House Intelligence Democrat Warns It Could "Put the Crown Jewels of American Military Technology Within Reach of the Chinese Communist Party" and Ed Markey Moves to Block a Separate $5 Billion Saudi Bomb Sale

On September 17, 2026, the State Department formally notified Congress of a proposed $24.3 billion Foreign Military Sale to Saudi Arabia of 48 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighters, 49 Pratt & Whitney engines and associated equipment. If completed, Saudi Arabia would be the first Middle Eastern country other than Israel to fly the F-35. The State Department said the sale "will not alter the military balance in the region" and that "President Trump has made clear that Saudi Arabia is an anchor for regional security." Its notification certified that the sale does not erode Israel's legally protected qualitative military edge; reports said Saudi jets could be fitted with a less capable software suite than Israel's. U.S. intelligence analysts have repeatedly warned that the kingdom's ties to Beijing could expose F-35 technology to China through espionage or partnership. The notification lands in the middle of a Saudi-Iran proxy war in Yemen and the U.S. war with Iran, and weeks after Trump sent Congress a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Riyadh. Congress has 30 days to object. The same week, Sens. Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley and Bernie Sanders introduced a joint resolution of disapproval against a separate $5 billion sale — notified September 4 — of more than 10,000 JDAM guidance kits and 500- and 2,000-pound bombs.

“Further escalation in the Saudi-Iran proxy war will worsen an already dire humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen and risks setting off a nuclear arms race between Iran and Saudi Arabia.”
Ed Markey (D-MA) · Sep 17, 2026

saudi-arabia

arms-sales

f-35

3 statements

Aug 28, 2026· Updated

Five Months Into a War Fought to Stop Iran From Enriching Uranium, Trump Sends Congress a Nuclear Agreement With Saudi Arabia — and Four Democrats Call It "the Starting Gun for a Middle East Nuclear Arms Race"

On Monday, August 24, 2026, the Trump administration transmitted the classified text of a U.S.–Saudi civil nuclear cooperation agreement to Capitol Hill, starting the review clock required by Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee now have 90 days of continuous session to review it; absent a joint resolution of disapproval, the agreement takes effect. The pact was signed in Washington last month by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and his Saudi counterpart. It would open the kingdom to U.S. nuclear technology and reactors. President Trump has publicly promised there will be "no enrichment of material" and has tied the whole thing to Riyadh normalizing relations with Israel: the deal, he wrote on July 23, "is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords." The administration reaffirmed that condition when it sent the text up. Critics say the promise and the paper do not match. The agreement contains no permanent, legally binding prohibition on enrichment or reprocessing — the "gold standard" the U.S. secured from the UAE in 2009 — and does not require Saudi Arabia to adopt the IAEA's Additional Protocol, the inspection regime 146 countries have accepted. The Wall Street Journal reported the agreement includes a joint U.S.–Saudi study of possible future domestic enrichment, and U.S. officials have told reporters the door is left open. The objection that cuts across party lines is the timing. The United States has been at war with Iran since late February over Tehran's nuclear program. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), one of the few Republicans on record against the deal, put it plainly: "We're bombing a country to keep them from getting a nuclear weapon, but we're signing a deal with another country." Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Reps. John Garamendi (D-CA) and Don Beyer (D-VA) made the same argument in a joint op-ed on August 4 and called on Congress to reject the agreement outright. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the ranking Democrat on Foreign Relations, has stopped short of rejection but said Congress should approach the agreement "with great caution." The Saudis, for their part, have said normalization with Israel requires a clear path to Palestinian statehood, which Prime Minister Netanyahu has rejected — so the Abraham Accords condition Trump has attached may keep the deal from taking effect regardless of what Congress does.

“The President's decision to provide Saudi Arabia with a nuclear deal that does not meet the bipartisan Gold Standard nor mandate the Additional Protocol, both necessary to ensure sensitive U.S. technology is not used to help build a nuclear bomb, is dangerous and a strategic mistake for our national security.”
Jeff Merkley (D-OR) · Aug 28, 2026

foreign-policy

saudi-arabia

nuclear

9 statements

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Five Months Into a War Fought to Stop Iran From Enriching Uranium, Trump Sends Congress a Nuclear Agreement With Saudi Arabia — and Four Democrats Call It "the Starting Gun for a Middle East Nuclear Arms Race"