Today Dubai Ports World announced it would “transfer fully the U.S. operations…to a United States entity.” This evening on the PBS News Hour, AEI scholar Norm Ornstein said that DP World was considering selling its U.S. operations to Halliburton:

If this is done now through the backdoor, where D.P. [Dubai Ports World] has any role at all, Congress is going to go ballistic, and it’s going to be a disaster, I think, for the administration.

They have got a dilemma now, because there simply aren’t American companies that have the know-how and the breadth to do this. Interestingly, and perhaps ironically, what I had heard earlier in the day, as they were looking at those that have the — the kind of resources, Halliburton was a name that came up.

Very interesting.

UPDATE: Halliburton denies the rumors. Read more

Schumer gave his take on news that Dubai Ports World will transfer operations of U.S. ports to a “U.S. entity.” Watch it:

Transcript:

Let me say this: obviously this is a promising development but, of course, the devil is in the details. I think those of us who feel strongly about this issue believe that the U.S. part of the British company should have no connection to the United Arab Emirates or DP World, which is fully owned by the United Arab Emirates. So therefore, we would have to examine this proposal. The bottom line is, again, if the U.S. operations are fully independent in every way, that could indeed be promising. If on the other hand there is still ultimate control exercised by DP World, I don’t think our goals would be accomplished and obviously we’ll need to study this agreement carefully.

UPDATE: “A source involved in talks between the White House, Congress and DP World told CNN the exact meaning of the UAE firm’s statement is unclear.”

UPDATE II: NBC White House correspondent David Gregory wonders whether the White House coordinated Dubai Ports World’s announcement today: Read more

Sen. John Warner (R-VA) “says a Dubai-owned company has decided to give up its management stake in some U.S. ports,” CBS News reports. More:

The news comes shortly after Republican congressional leaders told President Bush that both the House and Senate appeared ready to block the controversial deal that would have given DP World operational control of several U.S. ports.

It was not immediately clear whether the announcement would be enough to cool widespread sentiment in Congress to pass legislation blocking the deal, which has become an election-year nightmare for Republicans.

UPDATE: CNN says the firm will “transfer fully the U.S. operation of P&O ports in North America to a U.S. entity.”