The Pentagon asked Congress to replace dwindling US military stockpiles by passing a measure with more funding for Ukraine days before Republican lawmakers torpedoed additional assistance for Kyiv.
Under Secretary of Defense Michael McCord told House and Senate lawmakers in a Sept. 29 letter that just $1.6 billion remains of the $25.9 billion passed to replenish US weapons stockpiles, including artillery rounds, rockets and missiles for Ukraine’s war against Russia.
Separately, the US has $5.4 billion left to provide weapons and equipment from its stockpiles, which the Pentagon secured after having previously overvalued some equipment.
“We have already been forced to slow down the replenishment of our own forces to hedge against an uncertain funding future,” McCord wrote. “Failure to replenish our military services on a timely basis could harm our military’s readiness.”
McCord also said the assistance was “critical and urgent now as Russia prepares to conduct a winter offensive.”
Congress dodged a government shutdown on Saturday by passing a continuing resolution to fund current federal spending levels until Nov. 17 — but declined to include $6 billion in additional funding for Ukraine.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had initially agreed on the price tag in their own proposed continuing resolution, but scrapped that bill as the deadline loomed.
House Republicans had threatened to torpedo any stopgap funding bill that included Ukraine aid, leading to the passage of the leaner legislation.
A majority of the GOP conference also opposed a separate measure to provide $300 million in military assistance to Kyiv.
That assistance bill passed Thursday with 210 Democrats and 101 Republicans voting in support. Another 117 GOP lawmakers voted against it.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Washington, DC, last month to urge lawmakers to pass more funding for his nation’s war effort, insisting that his forces were “winning” in their counteroffensive against Russia.
US military assistance to Ukraine has totaled about $113 billion since Russia invaded in February of last year. Biden requested an additional $24 billion from Congress in August.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has expressed support for Ukraine’s war effort but also said he does not want the assistance to be a “blank check.”
Several hardline Republicans have remained critical of McCarthy for his stance.
Far-right Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has threatened to oust McCarthy, accusing the speaker of striking a “secret deal” with President Biden over the weekend to provide funding to Ukraine in a future bill.
“So be it. Bring it on. Let’s get over with it and let’s start governing,” McCarthy told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday of Gaetz’s attempt.
“I’ll survive,” he also said. “You know, this is personal with Matt. Matt voted against the most conservative ability to protect our border. He’s more interested in securing TV interviews than doing something.”
Biden on Sunday indicated that he had reached an agreement with McCarthy on moving forward with a new aid package for Ukraine, but did not provide details.
Asked about the prospects for any future deals with McCarthy after signing the continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown a day earlier, the president responded: “We just made one about Ukraine.”
On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged multiple reporters’ questions on the existence of such a deal, instead repeating that there is obvious “bipartisan support for Ukraine” in Congress.
“We appreciate the bipartisan support that we’ve seen for Ukraine from the beginning, and we believe that’s going to continue,” she said. “And so that is what we see, and that’s how we see this moving forward.”
She declined to answer questions on whether a secret assurance or deal was made behind closed doors.
“I don’t even think the Speaker needs to do back-channel [communications]” Jean-Pierre said. “He himself said yesterday that, ‘I support being able to make sure that Ukraine has the weapons that they need.’”
McCarthy flatly denied Biden’s claim, telling reporters when asked if an agreement was made: “Really? By who? I have no idea … There is no side deal going forward.”
With Post wires
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