Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) on Monday sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sounding the alarm over the country’s $10 billion defense stock deficit thanks to President Joe Biden’s seemingly endless proxy war against Russia.
“We write to express concern about recent reports that the Biden administration has ‘sent $10 billion worth of weapons to Ukraine that it still does not have the money to replace’ and is sending even more weapons to Ukraine despite this,” Sens. Vance, Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) wrote in their letter to Austin, which was obtained by Breitbart News.
Politico reported that the Pentagon sent $10 billion in weapons to Ukraine that it does not have the money for; Department of Defense (DOD) officials expect funding to replenish the equipment in a controversial supplemental package that includes aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
The lawmakers wrote that even some military commanders are worried about the Biden administration’s significant drawdown of defense stocks to Ukraine:
According to Politico, “there are worries, too, about shortfalls in U.S. weapons if officials are not able to replenish DOD’s stocks.”13 This echoes similar concerns previously expressed by other officials. For instance, the commander of US Air Forces in Europe has warned that “we’re giving a lot of munitions away to the Ukrainians — which I think is exactly what we need to do — but now we’re getting dangerously low and sometimes, in some cases even too low, that we don’t have enough.” [Emphasis added]
NBC News also noted that some officials also remain “wary of the idea [of drawing down U.S. stockpiles without replenishment funds] because it could put the U.S. military’s stockpiles below levels that are considered necessary for sufficient readiness.”
The conservative lawmakers continued:
One should question whether this risk is acceptable, especially if it is indeed undertaken “without guarantees of when [weapons will] be replenished” but also in light of reporting that the administration is considering tapping “Pentagon reserves” of “around $200 million in US Army funding to provide Ukraine immediate support” and DOD Comptroller McCord’s September 2023 comment that “Failure to replenish our military services on a timely basis could harm our military’s readiness […] Some have suggested that the Department could still execute the mission and support Ukraine’s needs if we were given permission to transfer funds from inside a short-term CR from our own needs to fund more security assistance. I want to be clear, the Department does not support that approach, which will create unacceptable risk to us.” [Emphasis added]
This is not the first time that Vance has argued that sending more aid to Ukraine would cripple America’s defense stock.
Vance said at the Munich Security Conference in February, “The West doesn’t make enough munitions to support an indefinite war. Ukraine doesn’t have enough manpower to support an indefinite war.”
As the Ukraine-Russia conflict has dragged into its third year, a survey from the Harris Poll and Quincy Institute found that roughly 70 percent of Americans want the Biden administration to push Ukraine toward a negotiated peace with Russia as soon as possible. Forty-six percent of Republicans favor an immediate end to sending aid to Ukraine, which includes military equipment.
“We worry that the reportedly “furious effort at the White House to find any possible support for Ukraine” is leading the administration to further deplete U.S. weapons stocks, divert funds from critical priorities, compromise military readiness, and impose additional financial burdens on American taxpayers,” the lawmakers added in their letter to Austin.
The lawmakers demanded to know:
- Why the Biden administration reversed its position on using the presidential drawdown authority to send more American weaponry to Ukraine without replenishing the funding.
- Why the Biden administration used “newfound savings” to send more aid to Ukraine rather than refueling the stock replenishment deficit.
- At what point “does the administration believe further drawing down U.S. weapons stocks for Ukraine will compromise military readiness, if not now?”
- “What proportion of critical U.S. munitions stocks have been dispatched to Ukraine under Presidential Drawdown Authority, to include in particular: (a) 155mm artillery shells; (b) Patriot interceptors; (c) GMLRS; (d) ATACMS; (e) Javelin missiles?”
- “How long will it take to fully replenish U.S. weapons stocks drawn down to aid Ukraine, in total and for: (a) 155mm artillery shells; (b) Patriot interceptors; (c) GMLRS; (d) ATACMS; (e) Javelin missiles?”
Vance Letter to Austin by Breitbart News on Scribd
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
