Staten Island Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican, has joined forces with Democratic Rep. Greg Meeks in an effort to prevent the Trump administration from selling $750 million worth of jet engines to Turkey. The bipartisan group is urging that Turkey's government be denied the U.S. military equipment ahead of a NATO summit scheduled for early July.
Normally, chairs and ranking members of the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees are responsible for approving arms sales. However, Malliotakis and Meeks contend that the administration is attempting to bypass this customary congressional review.
"As long as Turkey is under the leadership of Erdogan who aligns himself with Iran and Russia, harbors Hamas & remains the only NATO member to not sanction Russia, Turkey should NOT receive our best jets and military equipment," Malliotakis stated on X.
Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued a statement Wednesday criticizing the Trump administration's actions. He described the potential sale as "another deeply troubling example of this administration’s open contempt for Congress’s oversight authority." Meeks added that the State Department had not provided a justification for the decision, invoked no emergency authority, and had refused to brief him on the implications of the sale for U.S.-Turkey relations, Turkey's possession of the Russian S-400 system, and other regional security concerns. Instead, Meeks stated, his office was informed that the administration would proceed with a formal notification of the sale.
Meeks also noted that the equipment would not be delivered for years, suggesting the sale was not urgent. "This was a deliberate choice to shut Congress out and to treat legitimate oversight as an inconvenience to be brushed aside," he said.
When asked about the jet engine sales on Wednesday, President Trump told reporters that he was "going to probably do something" for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that would "make him very happy." Trump referred to Erdoğan as a "great leader, a very strong person" and emphasized that Erdoğan had done everything he had ever asked. Trump also mentioned that Erdoğan's hosting of the upcoming NATO summit was the basis for his attendance.
Representatives for Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch and Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen, as well as House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.