BURSTSen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and a group of Senate Democrats on Thursday moved to block $3.5 billion worth of arms sales to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as President Trump nears the end of his weeklong trip in the Middle East.
Murphy filed a pair of joint resolutions Friday afternoon: one aimed at blocking a $1.9 billion sale to Qatar and a second item that would block three arms deals with the UAE to the tune of $1.6 billion.
The move comes amid the furor surrounding the president’s plan to accept a new luxury jet from Qatar, which is valued at $400 million. Trump has vehemently defended his decision, while Murphy and others have likened it to blatant corruption.
“This isn’t a gift out of the goodness of their hearts – it’s an illegal bribe that the President of the United States is champing at the bit to accept. That’s unconstitutional and not how we conduct foreign policy,” Murphy said in a statement about the Qatar arms deal and the plane arrangement. “Unless Qatar rescinds their offer of a ‘palace in the sky’ or Trump turns it down, I will move to block this arms sale.”
Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), all members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined Murphy in support of the resolutions.
The Boeing jet would be gifted with the intention of using it as Air Force One throughout the remainder of Trump's term before it would be transferred to his presidential library.
The Qatari arms sale includes eight MQ-9B armed drones and hundreds of tail kits, 500-pound bombs and Hellfire II missiles.
The deal with the Emiratis is headlined by a half-dozen CH-47F Block II Chinook helicopters and related equipment.
It is unclear when a vote on the floor would happen; it will happen eventually, though, as the items are filed as joint resolutions of disapproval, meaning Democrats will force floor action.
Though Republicans have not criticized the plane gift to the tune Democrats have, they have not rushed to Trump’s defense either. Numerous members indicated they are uneasy due to various reasons, ranging from safety to espionage to the practicality and need for the plane.
The resolutions mark the latest Democratic push centered on the potential gift. Schatz and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) both tried to pass measures aimed at Trump over this topic on the floor Tuesday, but they were blocked by Republicans.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also placed a hold on political appointees to the Department of Justice and called on the Department of Justice’s Foreign Agents Registration Act unit to “disclose all activities by Qatari foreign agents inside the U.S. that could benefit” from the president or his business interests.