But the initial DC reaction to efforts to stop the deal was: „you can‘t beat General Dynamics.“ On August 11, when Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said he would work with a bipartisan coalition to stop the Saudi arms deal, Foreign Policy said:

Still, stopping the deal is going to be an uphill battle. The main beneficiary of the deal is General Dynamics Land Systems, according to a statement by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The firm is a subsidiary of General Dynamics, a massive defense contractor that wields significant clout on Capitol Hill. That could make it hard for Paul to find the allies he would need in the House and Senate to permanently block the sale.