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The Pentagon nonetheless has $4.4 billion in presidential drawdown authority to offer weapons to Ukraine instantly from Protection Division stock, in response to Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Garron Garn. However the weapons DOD can switch to Ukraine are restricted by the required funding to replenish U.S. stockpiles, and that’s what is nearly gone.
On Sunday, Pentagon Comptroller Mike McCord urged Congress in a letter to behave on the president’s roughly $111 billion supplemental, which has been slowed down on Capitol Hill as lawmakers debate tying the request to a deal on border safety.
“It’s important that Congress act at once on the Administration’s pending supplemental request. Doing so is in our clear nationwide curiosity, and our help is vitally wanted so Ukraine can proceed to battle for freedom,” McCord wrote within the letter. Bloomberg first reported McCord’s letter, which POLITICO additionally later obtained.
The supplemental incorporates greater than $60 billion in help for Ukraine, greater than $14 billion for Israel, in addition to funding for Taiwan.
Lawmakers are nonetheless far aside on talks to hyperlink border safety restrictions with Ukraine funding. Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer requested senators to return this week as a substitute of happening recess on Thursday in an effort to make progress on a framework settlement.
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham stated Sunday that, following weeks of negotiations, senators are “not wherever shut” to putting a deal earlier than the tip of the 12 months — a prospect that imperils additional U.S. help to Ukraine.
As of Dec. 6, the Pentagon had $1.1 billion in current sources out there to backfill U.S. shares, spokesperson Maj. Charlie Dietz stated on the time.
However the U.S. has now allotted that remaining funding to purchasing new weapons from business to exchange those the Pentagon has already despatched to Ukraine, Kirby stated.
The Biden administration has sought to promote the American public on spending extra money on Ukraine by highlighting the profit to U.S. producers and the roles market. Officers circulated a graphic on Capitol Hill exhibiting that battleground states reminiscent of Pennsylvania and Arizona are reaping billions of {dollars} from the efforts to arm Ukraine.
Kirby reiterated that message on Monday, noting the funding “after all helps good-paying American jobs within the course of, [and] additionally helps strengthen the manufacturing traces and strengthen our relationship with the protection business throughout the nation.”
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