U.S.-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act of 2025

Summary

On July 22, the House Foreign Affairs Committee marked up and advanced six bills concerning the foreign military sales process and strengthening the US defense industrial base. The suite of measures, spearheaded by the committee's bipartisan Foreign Arms Sales Task Force, codify much-needed reforms to the foreign arms sales process outlined in President Trump's executive order in April with tailored legislation to improve transparency, efficiency, and ease cooperation with foreign partners. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast formally established the task force, which is being led by Chairman Ryan Zinke (R-MT) and Ranking Member Madeleine Dean (D-PA), in March to ensure the foreign arms sales process meets the demands of the future. H.R. 3613, the Streamlining Foreign Military Sales Act, would raise the thresholds at which the Administration must notify or report to the Congress on foreign military sales and direct commercial sales of defense articles and services to foreign countries. The committee also advanced bills on South Africa bilateral relations, Sudan peace efforts, and US-Japan-South Korea trilateral cooperation. H.R. 2633 would require the Administration to determine whether South Africa has undermined U.S. national security or foreign policy interests and to comprehensively review the bilateral relationship between the United States and South Africa, and would require the Administration to report to the Congress on its findings. H.R. 3429 would direct the Secretary of State to negotiate with the governments of Japan and the Republic of Korea to form a joint inter-parliamentary working group on matters of shared interests and would authorize the appointment of up to eight Members of Congress to represent U.S. interests in the inter-parliamentary working group. The hearing did not include formal witness testimony, and the bills advanced do not guarantee passage in the full House.

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