Overview
- The Trump administration sent the 30-year Section 123 civil nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia to Congress in August, starting a 90-session-day review that allows lawmakers to seek a resolution of disapproval.
- A bipartisan group of senators, which wrote Wednesday, formally asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Energy Secretary Christopher Wright to declassify and release two classified side letters and related documents tied to the pact.
- House Democrats introduced a Joint Resolution of Disapproval this week that would nullify the deal during the review period but would face a likely presidential veto without a two-thirds congressional vote.
- Critics point to the public text’s provision for a joint study on a Saudi enrichment facility and warn that follow-up work could enable enrichment up to 20 percent, a level experts say shortens the technical path to weapons-grade material.
- The pact would open tens of billions in U.S. commercial work for AP1000 reactors and Westinghouse, and the dispute raises core questions about precedent for classifying 123 side letters and whether the agreement meets the so-called UAE "gold standard" on enrichment and inspections.