Trump administration sends Saudi Arabia nuclear cooperation agreement to Congress, triggering Atomic Energy Act review

The Trump administration has sent a nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia to Congress, setting the stage for a statutory review required under the Atomic Energy Act, The Hill reported. The transmission is aimed at moving the arrangement into a congressional consideration window this week, according to the report, where lawmakers can review and potentially block specific aspects of the agreement’s implementation.

The agreement, as described by The Hill, would allow Saudi Arabia to pursue uranium enrichment as part of the cooperation framework. Under the Atomic Energy Act’s congressional review mechanism, such agreements are not solely determined by the executive branch; the law requires action or acquiescence by Congress during a defined period before the deal can move forward.

A central feature described by The Hill is a “retroactive condition” the administration is tying to the agreement. The report says President Trump’s administration added a requirement that the arrangement would only move forward if Saudi Arabia joins the “Abraham” process referenced as connected to the Abraham Accords. The Hill did not specify in its summary the exact form of that condition beyond linking it to participation in the Abraham Accords framework.

The report frames the move as the administration’s effort to begin the legal and procedural steps Congress would need to conduct before any enrichment-related cooperation could proceed. Because the congressional review is tied to the Atomic Energy Act, the practical effect of the submission is that the agreement enters a period in which committees and the full Congress can evaluate the terms, associated safeguards, and the policy justifications offered by the executive branch.

The congressional action that follows depends on the statutory structure and any legislative actions taken during the review period. In past nuclear cooperation cases, Congress’s role typically centers on the timing and the possibility of disapproval or other legislative intervention during the window set by law, though the Hill report focuses on the administration’s decision to deliver the agreement for review rather than on a specific vote schedule.

The administration’s next steps, based on the described process, are tied to how quickly Congress can conduct its review and whether lawmakers permit the agreement to advance. If the agreement is not allowed to proceed, enrichment-related cooperation tied to the deal would remain blocked under the review framework, according to the statutory premise described in The Hill’s account.

The Hill’s report also indicates that any advancement is conditioned on Saudi Arabia meeting the administration’s Abraham Accords-linked requirement. That condition would therefore operate as a gating factor for the agreement’s implementation, adding a diplomatic prerequisite that would need to be satisfied before the cooperation terms could become effective.