Annual US defence budget packed with Middle East-related amendments
On Thursday evening, the US House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an annual piece of legislation that sets the budget for the Pentagon as well as guiding American military policy for the year to come.
This year's NDAA, which gives the US defence department an $840.2bn budget, higher than any previous year and a step up from President Joe Biden's own budget request, is loaded with dozens of amendments tied to the Middle East and North Africa.
These range from reining in the White House's authorisations for military force to seeking to obstruct a potential security pact between the US and Arab gulf allies.
The House version will still need to be reconciled in the Senate in a conference of both chambers later this year. The Senate has yet to schedule a vote on its version of the budget.
Middle East Eye takes a look at this year's NDAA and some of the amendments consequential for the Middle East.
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Restricting Turkey's F-16 request
One of the most widely reported amendments sought to restrict the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. The amendment, introduced by Greek American Congressman Chris Pappas, was agreed to by a 244-179 vote.
It would not, however, completely block an effort to approve the sale.
The amendment says the Biden administration cannot approve the sale of F-16s or aircraft modernisation kits to Turkey without stating to Congress that it was in Washington's national interests.
The measure would also require the administration to show Congress that Turkey has "not violated the sovereignty of Greece" in the past 120 days, and that concrete steps have been taken "to ensure that such F-16s are not used by Turkey for repeated unauthorized territorial overflights of Greece".
Turkey made a request in October to the United States to buy 40 Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernisation kits for its existing jet fighters.
Late last month, after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to lift the threat of a veto on Finland and Sweden joining Nato, the US announced it fully supported the modernisation of Turkey's F-16 fleet.
Revoking Iraq AUMFs
As a part of a congressional push to rein in the White House's war-waging authorities, three amendments were passed that deal with Authorisation for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) legislation passed decades ago.
Two of the amendments were introduced by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who was the only US member of Congress to oppose the invasion of Iraq.
The first would repeal the 2002 AUMF for Iraq, while the second Lee amendment would require any AUMFs to include a "sunset provision," meaning that the authorisations could only serve for a limited time period before expiring.
A third amendment, from Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, would repeal the 1991 AUMF for Iraq.
However, none of the amendments would touch the 2001 AUMF, which gave the executive branch broad-ranging authority to wage war and launch military actions against the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks.
Legal and policy experts have previously told MEE that the only way for the US to fully commit to ending its "forever wars" in the Middle East, birthed in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, would be to fully repeal the 2001 AUMF.
Human rights in Egypt
Congressman Tom Malinowski introduced a number of amendments in this year's NDAA, including one that would require the Department of State and the director of National Intelligence to produce a report to Congress on the state of political prisoners in Egypt.
The amendment states the report would have to "include a detailed assessment of how many individuals are detained, imprisoned, or the victim of an enforced disappearance in Egypt".
Malinowski also put forth a separate amendment that would restrict a potential transfer of anti-aircraft and anti-submarine missiles to the government of Egypt. The amendment requires the US president to seek assurances from Cairo that it is not in violation of sanctions under the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act and that Egypt was no longer detaining US nationals.
Libya Stabilisation Act
There were a number of amendments pertaining to Libya in the NDAA, including the Libya Stabilisation Act, a wide-ranging piece of legislation previously introduced in Congress.
One of the most notable parts of the act, which has been agreed to as an NDAA amendment, is that it seeks a report on arms embargo violations by Turkey and Qatar. The same extends to the UAE, Russia, Egypt, Sudan, Chad and Saudi Arabia, all of whom supported Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar's 2019 assault on Tripoli.
The legislation would also require the president to come up with a list of Libyan officials responsible for gross human rights violations, "including senior government officials, militia leaders, para-military leaders, and other persons who provide significant support to militia or paramilitary groups in Libya," who could be subject to US sanctions.
A separate amendment from Congressman Ted Deutch would require the US government to detail its military and diplomatic strategy in Libya.
Another amendment, introduced by Malinoswki, requires a report to detail which private companies are involved in violating the arms embargo on Libya.
Yemen war and Khashoggi
This year's NDAA, passed a day before Biden left Israel on a visit to Saudi Arabia, included a number of provisions seeking to halt US support for the Saudi Arabia-led coalition's war in Yemen, as well as attempting to further hold the kingdom accountable for the murder of Washington Post and Middle East Eye columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Congressman Ted Lieu of California introduced an amendment that would mandate that the US government create a guideline for investigating the use of US-made weapons in the Yemen war.
Another amendment, from Congressman Gerry Connolly, in whose district Khashoggi lived, would restrict the president from selling any "defence articles or defence services" to Saudi law enforcement or intelligence agencies.
The amendment would only allow the sales to be approved if the administration could prove to Congress that Riyadh had not engaged in the forced repatriation, intimidation, or killing of dissidents in other countries; the unjust detainment of US nationals; or the torture of detainees in Saudi Arabian custody.
The amendment, however, does include a waiver for the president to push through such sales if they are in the "interest of national security".
Restrictions on US-UAE-Saudi air alliance
One amendment that passed would add additional requirements to issue a report on a "Middle East Integrated Air and Missile Defense" - a response to reports that the Biden administration was drafting a security agreement with the United Arab Emirates.
Congressman Ro Khanna's amendment came after he and fellow member of Congress Ilhan Omar introduced a slew of amendments to the NDAA that would put a wedge in any plans to create a new defence or security alliance with Arab Gulf states.
Last month, Axios reported that Biden administration officials were in discussions with their Emirati counterparts over what such a security arrangement would look like.
The report said the Biden administration had already sent a draft agreement to the UAE, which included a defence and security component but which also covers economic, trade, science and technology issues.
Establishing a new treaty with the US would require support from two-thirds of the Senate, which would be a difficult task with the 100-person legislative body split evenly between the two major political parties.
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