The US Senate has rejected proposals aimed at stopping foreign military sales exceeding $3bn to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The joint resolutions of disapproval were introduced in May 2025 by Connecticut democratic senator Chris Murphy, a lead sponsor of the resolutions, along with others.
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The senators, who called for the vote, challenged the deals and perceived them as a misuse of US foreign policy by President Donald Trump.
Proposals to obstruct a $1.9bn transaction of armed drones and related equipment to Qatar was dismissed with a 56-39 vote.
The Qatar sale included eight MQ–9B remotely piloted aircraft (RPA); 200 KMU–572 joint direct attack munition (JDAM) tail kits for guided bomb unit (GBU)–38 or Laser JDAM GBU–54; 110 AGM–114R2 Hellfire II missiles; 300 BLU–111 500-lb general purpose bombs; 100 MXU–650 air foil groups (AFG) for Paveway II GBU–12, eight M36E9 Hellfire captive air training missiles (CATM) and more.
Similarly, the Senate rejected an attempt to impede a $1.6bn sale of helicopters and other materials to the UAE by the same 56 to 39 vote.
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By GlobalDataThe UAE sale package included six CH–47F Block II Chinook helicopters with air-to-air refuel probe capability and extended range fuel tanks; 16 T–55–GA–714A engines; 14 embedded global positioning system (GPS)/ inertial navigation system (INS); eight AN/AAR–57 common missile warning systems (CMWS); 20 AN/ARC–231A communications security (COMSEC) radios; 20 M–240 machine guns and more.
Prior to voting, Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) said: “I’m glad to join my colleagues in introducing these resolutions to block arms sales to countries blatantly bribing Trump and making clear that our national security is not for sale.”
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who is a senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, voted in favour of the resolution.
Shaheen said: “Our partnerships are key to advancing US interests and must remain free from corruption and abuse.”
