July 10, 2024
The United States has lots of military bases and installations here on US soil.
But many lawmakers have been very concerned lately about what’s happening with the land around those military bases. They’re worried about foreigners and foreign entities buying up that surrounding land. So now — the Biden Administration wants to crack down on those specific real estate transactions in the name of national security.
The Treasury Department just proposed a new rule that would significantly expand the power of the committee on foreign investment in the United States also known as CFIUS. Side note…that government agency should be familiar to you, because it’s the same one that has been investigating TikTok for years.
Back in 2018 in the foreign investment risk review modernization act, congress gave CFIUS the authority to review certain real estate transactions including purchases and leases by or to a foreign person near specific military installations. The law also gave the committee the ability revoke or block those real estate transactions if appropriate. Because of the sensitivity of areas around those military bases, the law was meant stop any type of potential surveillance by these foreigners or foreign entities. But the department of defense recently said that law didn’t go far enough. So now – the Treasury Department proposed this new rule to expand that authority by adding more than 50 military installations and the land surrounding them across 30 states to CFIUS’s jurisdiction.
The new proposed rule would expand CFIUS’s jurisdiction over the real estate transactions within a one-mile radius of 40 additional military installations that were not included in the original law. And the proposed rule says 19 military installations are so sensitive that CFIUS should have jurisdiction to look over the real estate transactions in the surrounding 100-mile radius. The proposed rule also says CFIUS should have expanded authority from one mile to 100 miles around eight military installations that are already in the current law.
Now – the proposed rule does not mean CFIUS would automatically block those foreign land leases or purchases. It just says when they come up the committee should have the power to look at all of them and decide whether the deal can go through because of the national security concerns of military bases and our nation’s secrets.
This rule is going through the public comment period for the next 30 days and could be finalized soon after that.
