The House Armed Services Committee on June 22 rejected a proposed amendment within the proposed U.S. defense budget calling for a $500 million boost in a fund that allows the Pentagon and Biden administration to dispatch assistance to Ukraine without Congressional approval.
The measure was among 800 amendments approved by the committee in moving the proposed $874.2 billion Fiscal Year National Defense Authorization Act (FY24 NDAA) to the House floor for full chamber adoption during a marathon hearing that began June 21 and ended early June 22.
More than two dozen of approximately 50 amendments debated by the 59-member committee, led by 31 Republicans, addressed critical race theory; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs; and remedies for service members discharged for defying vaccine mandates.
Rep. Jared Golden’s (D-Colo.) proposed amendment sought to “restore funding” to last year’s $800 million Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) budget by sifting $500 million from assorted NDAA line items, mostly from operations and maintenance (OM) budgets.
His amendment was the only proposal denied in a partisan 31-28 vote among those that were debated in the 13th hour of the hearing, which spanned 14 1/2 hours, including 11 1/2 in often intense debate.
Among “13th hour” proposals adopted was a proposed “study of an oil naval blockade of China,” sponsored by Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) that drew objections from Democrats and reservations from several Republicans.
Two such prospective amendments filed by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.)—one seeking to suspend Ukraine funding until the Pentagon ensures it is “following the law,” the other demanding Biden “take out China’s assets in Cuba”—were both withdrawn.
So Much Money, So Little Monitoring
The proposed $874.2 billion FY24 NDAA, the nation’s defense budget set to be adopted before the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year, only directly earmarks one $80 million allocation directly from the Pentagon’s budget to Ukraine.Since the February 2022 Russian invasion, the U.S. has authorized more than $100 billion in assistance for Ukraine, according to the U.S. State Department, including $40 billion in military gear and munitions.
That figure presumably includes $2.1 billion in “security assistance” announced by the DOD on June 9 and a $325 million tranche released by the Pentagon on June 13.
Most aid for Ukraine comes from the USAI, which allows the Biden administration to order and send weapons to the embattled nation from industry rather than pull them from U.S. stocks without Congressional approval.
Ukraine is addressed twice within the 416-page draft FY24 NDAA, filed as House Bill 2670, although the only proposed appropriation cited is $80 million for an MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS).
Regarding that requested ATACMS allocation, the proposed NDAA “directs the Secretary of Defense to provide a briefing to the congressional defense committees, not later than Dec. 31, 2023, on the progress of using USAI for the procurement of and availability of ATACMS to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
Under a section called “Mission Support to Ukraine,” the draft NDAA states the House Armed Forces Committee “seeks to better understand how the Department of Defense is prioritizing and approving or disapproving requests from the Government of Ukraine.…”
The committee requests Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin appear before it “not later than” Dec. 1, 2023, to provide “details on any request made by the [Ukraine] Ministry of Defense or National Police that have not been adjudicated within 90 days of submission or request.”
Gaetz’s withdrawn Ukraine amendment is somewhat similar, except it would require Austin to “affirm that we are [following the law] before we send any more aid to Ukraine.”
He maintained the administration is “not following the law” in how it is dispatching and monitoring funds.
Gaetz said he was “being forced to withdraw” the amendment but vowed to file “four amendments to strip” the Biden administration of its ability to send money without Congressional approval to Kyiv in the coming weeks.
“The country is weary of the conflict in Ukraine,” Gaetz said. “The humblest way to stop [the war] would be, let us follow our own laws.”
Golden Amendment Axed
The USAI received $800 million in the FY23 NDAA, but the Biden administration is requesting the USAI be restocked with only $300 million in the FY24 NDAA.Golden’s proposed amendment sought to “restore funding to last year’s budget” by sifting $500 million from assorted NDAA line items, mostly from OM budgets.
Committee members from “both parties have been calling on the president to do more, not less,” Golden said, noting Ukraine is not likely to see additional funding via a supplemental appropriations measure with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy recently saying momentum for such a bill “is not going anywhere.”
The return on investment for the over $110 billion spent thus far, he said, “is straight-forward—200,000 Russian casualties.”
Committee ranking member, or lead Democrat, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), said urgency is needed in securing the additional $500 million, “a small amount of money from readiness accounts,” which can be done “without significant pain.”
Ukraine is the “emergent” issue and should be regarded as such, he said, calling the $500 million slash in the USAI “a significant cut at a time when Ukraine is involved in an incredibly crucial counter-offensive and needs our help.”
The committee has demonstrated “overwhelming majority support for continued Ukraine aid” and should not change course now, Smith said.
“This is very important,” he said. “If you support Ukraine, you should be supporting this amendment.”
Chair Rep. Mike Rogers, a vocal Ukraine backer who has criticized the Biden administration for not doing more to help Kyiv, said he could not support Golden’s amendment.
The proposal “robs about every Operations and Maintenance budget” in the NDAA, he said, warning that gutting these accounts will “make it harder to support” the Pentagon, allies, and partners.
The best way to help defeat Putin’s armies is to “send excess cluster munitions to Ukraine,” Rogers said.
“We cannot continue to gut our existing systems” and maintain “our existing force has what it needs,” Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) said. “This committee spends all of its time investing into these systems and then robs them of needed maintenance until they ‘die on the vine.’”
Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), recalling how he had started the day as the ranking member of the committee’s Readiness Subcommittee “saying we ought to change the way OM budgets are funded,” said with a change of perspective, “I think I changed my mind” about sifting $500 million from OM budgets.
The $800 million FY23 Ukraine USAI trim to $300 million in FY24 is essentially a $500 million cut, he said.
“I don’t [think] this committee wants to do that. I think we can find the money elsewhere,” Garamendi said, noting doing so would “let the world know at the end of the night this committee supports Ukraine.”
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), noting he supports funding Ukraine “any way we can,” wasn’t sure the $300 million budget request is adequate and that raiding OM accounts is the best idea.
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), noting critics’ concerns are “valid” and that backing Ukraine is “not without tradeoffs,” said the additional $500 million would offer benefits other than degrading Russia’s capacity to menace Europe.
“Our strategic goal is [to] avoid a war with China,” he said, recalling recent talks with Taiwan officials who stressed “how crucial it is for Ukraine to succeed” if the United States is going to dissuade China President Xi Jinping “that he is not going to find success as a war criminal” in invading the island nation.
Speaking about “beans and bullets,” Waltz said, while the American taxpayer foots much of the Ukraine bill, “France and Germany have not stepped up and don’t show any intent of doing so.”
He said he agrees with Biden and wants to demonstrate that by approving the president’s $300 million Ukraine USAI budget request.
“I think the president wants Ukraine to be successful and this is what he requested,” Waltz said.
“Sometimes it is okay to disagree with the president when he’s of your own party. Sometimes it is okay,” Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif,) said. “This is not the time to take the foot off the gas.”
