With Foreign Military Financing paused, Lebanese forces wait on promised funds

WASHINGTON — As the Lebanese Armed Forces try to keep up their end of the ceasefire deal, a large pot of funds meant to enhance their equipment is tied up in Washington.

At the end of the Biden administration, there were public reports the State Department planned to shift $95 million in Foreign Military Funding (FMF) from Egypt to Lebanon. The office of Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, R-Fla., who chairs the House appropriations subcommittee in charge of foreign aid, confirmed to Breaking Defense that the Biden team successfully shifted that money. But the funds are now held up as part of a broader State Department freeze on foreign aid ordered by Trump administration Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

FMF is money the US government gives to other nations in order to build up their national security capabilities. FMF is required to be spent only on US-made goods, meaning the money from Washington flows out to foreign capitals and then back into the US defense industry.

While FMF totals for many countries are relatively small, “a little can go a long way,” according to Tressa Guenov of the Atlantic Council.

“It is one tool as a bulwark against influence from adversaries and competitors who may be looking to also sell their wares to key partners that may be under pressure from lots of different power sources from around the world,” Guenov, who served principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs from 2022 to 2024, told Breaking Defense.

At a tactical level, she also noted that getting countries onto American kit helps with interoperability, especially with counter-terrorism and border security issues many of these countries are facing.

In the case of Lebanon, the Biden team wanted to show support for the new government formed just weeks ago, and to provide military aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces as they try to secure territory formerly held by Hezbollah and, later, by invading Israeli forces. Transferring that money from Egypt’s standing FMF pot to Lebanon was seen as the easiest way to get that aid underway.

“Additional FMF will further enable the LAF to secure the South Litani area, implement UNSCR 1701, and signal strong U.S. commitment to advancing the U.S.-brokered agreement to partners who may be considering increasing assistance to the LAF,” a State Department official told Breaking Defense in early January, speaking on background before the Biden administration left office. “Supporting the LAF to exert sovereignty across all of Lebanon will constrain the malign activities of Hizballah and their Iranian backers both in Lebanon and their destabilizing activities across the globe.”

However, one of Rubio’s first moves after arriving in Foggy Bottom was “initiating a review of all foreign assistance programs to ensure they are efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda,” according to department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.

While the scale of the global assistance pause is different from previous administrations, it’s not unheard of for a new administration to pause and review foreign security assistance programs when coming into office. The first Trump administration did so under then-secretary Rex Tillerson, and when the Biden administration came into office, it froze sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as part of a review.

It’s also unclear exactly how much FMF is actually available to be frozen.

According to Diaz-Balart’s office, the total FMF appropriated for FY24 was $6.1 billion. But with the confusion about the budget — the government is operating under a continuing resolution, essentially stretching FY24 out six months — it is possible that a significant portion of that $6.1 billion has already been spent. And because FMF is essentially a loan, it’s possible that countries that received FMF dollars already aren’t able to spend them under the freeze.

Asked for clarification on the status of FMF deals, a state department spokesperson said, “We are reviewing all foreign assistance funds to ensure they are aligned with American interests. During this review period, all foreign assistance funding mechanisms with the exception of programs with waivers, are paused. National security is and will remain a top priority.”

Ironically, that $95 million for Lebanon actually would still be flowing if it was tagged for Egypt. That’s because Rubio carved out an exception for “foreign military financing for Israel and Egypt and administrative expenses, including salaries, necessary to administer foreign military financing,” according to the BBC.

Guenov noted that a “loss of such support can really be a sore spot in relationships,” and raises the risk that if a freeze lasts a long time or FMF broadly is cut, other countries, such as China or Russia, could move to fill the void.

“There are other competitors who offer, sometimes, cheaper, more quickly available equipment, which come in with deals for countries that provide an alternative to the US,” she said. “And certainly that’s something we want to avoid.”

As to FY25, the Biden administration requested $9.04 billion in security assistance funds through State, with roughly $6.08 billion of FMF included; should Congress finally pass an FY25 budget those totals will likely change, even if the freeze is lifted by then.

Meanwhile, Foreign Military Sales cases, where the US government acts as a seller of US-made weapons to a foreign partner, are moving forward. The first FMS case approved under the Trump administration was announced Friday, a deal with Japan for Standard Missile 6 weapons, with an estimated price tag of $900 million.