Amidst an unprecedented disruption of governing norms, President Trump’s recent decision to break with longstanding practice to bypass congressional holds on arms transfers to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) may seem like a relatively minor act of defiance. From the dismissal of inspector generals, to the shuttering of independent agencies, to the liberal use of wartime authorities to sidestep legal constraints, the White House is engaging in an extraordinary effort to emancipate itself of the oversight mechanisms that underpin the balance of power between the co-equal branches of government. However, given the already beleaguered state of the security cooperation oversight ecosystem, the disregard of the “tiered review process” for U.S. arms transfers represents a serious blow to a critical guardrail for a profoundly consequential aspect of U.S. foreign policy.