House Foreign Affairs Committee considers proposals to speed up U.S. weapons exports

Several bills slated for markup Wednesday by lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee include provisions that aim to make American defense products easier, faster, or more enticing for foreign partners to purchase.

Senior committee staff previewed the newly proposed foreign military sales and financing reforms on a call with a small group of reporters Tuesday.

Allies’ ability to buy American-made military equipment and related assets have historically faced challenges associated with lagging administrative processes and bureaucracy. The second Trump administration aims to change that, along with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

This new legislative package was crafted to “meet the needs of the changing landscape,” a senior official with HFAC’s Republican majority told DefenseScoop.

Foreign military sales and direct commercial sales are primary methods for U.S. defense exports. FMS is a government-to-government program where the Defense Department acts as an intermediary, while DCS involves direct deals between U.S. firms and foreign customers, offering more speed and flexibility.

The legislative proposals also come as the Pentagon is hustling to ramp up U.S. production capacity and replenish weapons stockpiles against a backdrop of ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.

One of the bills included would amend the Arms Export Control Act to authorize the use of foreign military financing for direct commercial sales and contracts at the discretion of the secretary of state, and eliminate an existing $100 million cap.

“A lot of partners really prefer going via DCS when possible. Especially with active conflicts right now, there’s definitely an interest from our partners to get U.S.-origin defense technology quickly — and DCS is often the preferred option for that,” a senior HFAC official told DefenseScoop. “A lot of our historic recipients of foreign military financing are not even using up all of the FMF that they have been allocated, because they’re just not able to maximize that utilization through the FMS system because it is so slow. So, [we’re] just expanding the authorization to make sure that more countries are able to use that money for direct commercial sales.” 

Another bill set for Wednesday’s markup would officially authorize the FMF loan and loan guarantee program that’s currently run out of the State Department. Senior committee staff said that proposal is “part of a wider shift to start taking a more loan-based approach” via a program that has primarily been funded with grants. 

The package also includes legislation that was informed by feedback from U.S. military partners and allies about how certain smaller countries don’t necessarily have the resources to participate in large-scale FMS cases but are keen to get involved. 

The bill would require the State Department to create a strategy to incentivize smaller countries to participate in the DCS and FMS processes, via its Lead-Nation Procurement initiative.

“The mechanism already exists. We’re not establishing anything new. It’s really just about sending a signal to the State Department that this is a priority, and an optimal pathway for some of these smaller countries to take in order to participate in FMS,” a senior HFAC official said. “From our perspective, we’re looking at countries in the Western Hemisphere, Latin America, the Pacific Island countries, Baltic states — kind of these smaller countries that really have an important defense role to play.”

Also in the package is legislation that would add Taiwan to the NATO Plus list, which is a security arrangement that currently connects the alliance with five specific partner nations to enhance intelligence sharing and military technology transfers.

Senior HFAC staff said that bill is about “solidifying Taiwan’s role as a partner of the U.S. and prioritizing their urgent defense needs.”

In response to questions from DefenseScoop on the call, the officials noted that the bills have references to certain actions that would need to be taken by the State Department in consultation with the DOD.