A group of Members of Congress, led by Democratic Representative Dina Titus of Nevada, is urging House leadership to stand ready to introduce a Joint Resolution of Disapproval under US law, should the Trump administration attempt to allow Turkey to acquire F-35 fighter jets.
The letter is expected to be sent once the signature-gathering process is complete and is addressed to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The letter urges them to be prepared to use the legislative tools available to Congress should the Trump administration seek to pave the way for Turkey’s return to the F-35 programme in a manner that circumvents or effectively waives the statutory requirements of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) without a credible legal basis.
“Readmitting Turkey into the F-35 program would place the Administration in direct conflict with its own statutory obligations” the letter states, according to the document obtained by Kathimerini.
The lawmakers describe the matter as urgent and recall that the sanctions imposed by the first Trump administration in December 2020 on Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) remain in legal effect. They note that those sanctions have never been rescinded and that the underlying conditions that triggered them have not been remedied.
