US official: govt shutdown could affect foreign weapons shipments

A U.S. State Department official said on Tuesday a government shutdown could affect transfers of weapons to foreign partners of the United States.

Mira Resnick, deputy assistant Secretary of State for Regional Security, told a House of Representatives hearing that she could not say what would happen, but in the past, the State Department's bureau of political and military affairs has been unable to process new licenses or new military sales for any partner except in an emergency during a shutdown. "This is something we would like to avoid," she told a hearing on U.S. defense cooperation with Taiwan.