Made-in-America Defense Act

This bill aims to speed up how U.S. defense gear and services reach allies. It tells the State Department and the Defense Department to review, every year, which items are on the “FMS-only” list and decide if some should also be sold through direct commercial sales. The bill says faster delivery helps U.S. security and notes the current process can cause long delays, so regular reviews should keep the list up to date and move items to the faster track when it makes sense. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) are government-to-government sales. Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) are sales from a U.S. company directly to a foreign government.

• Who is affected: State Department, Defense Department, U.S. allies and partners, and U.S. defense companies involved in direct sales.
• What changes: Starting within one year, and then every year, the agencies must compare how long transfers take under FMS versus DCS, look at workload impacts, and weigh benefits to U.S. security and competitiveness. They must send Congress a report within 30 days after each review with average transfer times, main causes of delays, steps taken to fix delays, and any items added to or removed from the FMS-only list; the report is unclassified but may include a classified annex.
• Why it matters: The bill pushes to reduce bottlenecks so trusted partners can get needed equipment faster, which the bill says strengthens U.S. national security.