State, Defense Department's Arms Transfer Review Policies are Adequate, GAO Says

The Government Accountability Office found that the State and Defense departments’ processes for reviewing proposed arms transfers are appropriate and aligned with conventional arms transfer policies, the GAO said in a Sept. 9 report. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., requested the GAO review the administration's arms transfer policies. Menendez is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

The GAO said it looked for differences between “outcomes associated with the prior and current” arms transfer policies and made sure the administration was adhering to responsibilities in five categories: national security, economic security, relationships with allies, human rights and nonproliferation. To do this, the GAO said it examined “documentation” from State and Defense and interviewed officials from both departments. It also analyzed arms transfer policies and outcomes from 2014 to 2018 to look for any inconsistencies, but said it found none.

The GAO called the Obama and Trump administrations' arms transfer policies “broadly similar in context,” and said “none of the officials with whom we spoke ... identified any significant differences between the two policies.” The report also found that the rate of approvals and denials for arms transfers “were fairly constant in recent years.”

In July, Menendez asked the State Department’s inspector general to investigate whether the agency should cancel all arms sales to the United Arab Emirates after reports surfaced that the UAE had illegally transferred U.S. missiles to a Libyan militia.