The government shutdown has frozen more than $5 billion in weapons exports intended for NATO allies and Ukraine, raising alarms over U.S. strategic commitments, alliance readiness, and the health of the domestic defense industrial base.
A senior State Department official told Axios: “This is actually really harming both our allies and partners and U.S. industry to actually deliver a lot of these critical capabilities overseas.”
The affected shipments include systems such as AMRAAM missiles, Aegis combat systems, and HIMARS launchers for Denmark, Croatia, and Poland.
While the precise destinations are not always clear, such exports to NATO allies often support Ukraine’s defense effort.
The brakes on these transfers result in large part from the furlough of key staff at the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, which was operating at roughly 25% of its normal staffing last month, a senior official told Axios.
Under the Arms Export Control Act, Congress must review proposed arms sales, which furloughs and staffing shortfalls have disrupted.
In a written statement, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said: “Democrats are holding up critical weapons sales, including to our NATO allies, which harms the U.S. industrial base and puts us and our partners’ security at risk.”
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Jim Risch, R-Idaho, added that “China and Russia aren’t shut down. Their efforts to undermine the U.S. and our partners and allies get easier while our industrial base suffers and our allies’ needs go unmet.”
The broader significance for the Trump administration centers on alliance credibility and domestic defense production. The freeze serves as a visible consequence of the government funding stalemate, highlighting how even defense export licenses require active staffing.
The delays in allied arms transfers could create strategic openings for opposing powers.
The shutdown’s ripple effects, furloughs, paused briefings to congressional committees, and understaffed export control offices have created a bottleneck in routine exports.
Experts warn that the industrial base may face production slowdowns or lost orders, and allied militaries may see delayed capability deliveries.
While the Trump administration has signaled strong support for Ukraine and NATO allies, the gap between policy intent and operational delivery is increasingly visible. The arms export freeze raises questions about how funding disruptions at home can affect foreign policy commitments abroad.
For now, the arms export slowdown remains a tangible symbol of the shutdown’s reach, stretching beyond domestic services and federal wages into global defense logistics and alliance assurance.
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