Russian govt. wants to buy U.S. Uranium Company: Should Pres. Obama block sale using CFIUS

The Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States ("CFIUS") reportedly is being urged by members of the U.S. congress to block the sale of an American Uranium processing company to Russian investors. Well, actually, they are urging president Obama to block the sale using the CFIUS process, which is a review panel whose job it is to make sure that any foreign investment in the United States does not threaten U.S. national security.

The senior members of congress sent off a letter to Treasury secretary Tim Geithner which, allegedly, stated in part:

the take-over of essential nuclear resources by a government-owned Russian agency, as would occur under the proposed transaction, would not advance the national security interests of the United States.”

So they are asking that government to use to the CFIUS process to block the transaction. The CFIUS process allows the president to review certain mergers and acquisitions and to block these if he feels that this "open capital market" scheme that allows foreign investors to be on the same footing as American investors, actually threatens he National security interests of the United States. The amazing scope of CFIUS is that the president's assessment is not subject to judicial review. So that means, he almost has "dictatorial" powers under CFIUS to not only block mergers, but to also dismantle deals that have already been done.

Haven't really heard much about this proposed Russian transaction in the mainstream press though. And while a Russian government ownership of a U.S. Uranium plant is worrisome, is it one that president Obama should seek to block necessarily? Or could there be some concessions made to allow the deal to go through?