WASHINGTON — The Protection Division’s No. 2 civilian official mentioned Tuesday the Biden administration plans to ask Congress for cash to pay for U.S. troop deployments in Japanese Europe — on the identical day Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., floated the opportunity of extra Ukraine funding.
Requested in regards to the potential for extra funding to answer the disaster, Deputy Protection Secretary Kathleen Hicks mentioned the Pentagon is working with Congress to backfill the price of U.S. forces surged to Japanese Europe. These forces weren’t included within the FY23 funds request, she mentioned.
“Congress on a bipartisan foundation has been very ahead leaning when it comes to its curiosity in ensuring they might help us be complete towards these necessities,” she mentioned at a roundtable with reporters. “As we’re capable of sort of abrogate these prices, a number of that’s Military value, when it comes to Military motion. We be certain that to seize these prices, and we’re working with Congress.”
McConnell on Tuesday famous Congress might have to cross a further funding invoice to answer Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We might have to do one other supplemental,” McConnell mentioned throughout remarks in his residence state of Kentucky. “That is critically necessary that we win, that the Russians be defeated, that we do every thing we are able to to punish them each on the financial facet and navy facet.”
Congress finalized a $1.5 trillion spending invoice final month that gives $13.6 billion in new help for the Ukraine disaster. The cash was largely to revive navy shares of apparatus already transferred to Ukrainian navy items via the president’s drawdown authority, whereas $3.1 billion was to cowl “deployment, operational, and intelligence prices” for U.S. forces deployed to Europe in response to the Russian actions.
Laws supporting Ukraine and punishing Russia has grow to be straightforward fodder in current weeks for an in any other case bitterly partisan Congress to cross into legislation.
President Joe Biden signed into legislation final week two separate payments penalizing Russia, which each the Senate and the Home rapidly handed earlier than adjourning for a two-week recess.
The Senate handed each items of laws — one invoice banning Russian vitality imports and one other suspending regular commerce relations with Moscow — by a 100-0 vote.
Individually, the Senate unanimously handed one other invoice final week supposed to expedite navy help to Ukraine by easing statutory necessities below the president’s authority to lease or mortgage protection articles to Kyiv.
Nonetheless, the Home didn’t take motion on the Ukraine invoice earlier than recessing.
Hicks mentioned the Biden administration is in a “persevering with dialogue” with Ukrainian officers over the kinds of weapons it plans to ship, and that presidential choices on the matter are pending.
“Sure, we’ll proceed to have a look at the kind of capabilities that the Ukrainians are asking for when it comes to easy methods to give them extra vary and distance,” Hicks mentioned.
Washington is debating a rise to U.S. navy deployments in Japanese Europe, which grew after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. That may signify one other added expense.
However any main adjustments in pressure posture will in all probability have to attend for the early July NATO summit in Madrid, Hicks mentioned.
“On condition that we’re within the midst of operations now, these operations might proceed for a while as they’re,” she mentioned. “I wouldn’t anticipate drastic adjustments in U.S. posture, and positively not earlier than there’s a summit the place there’s a basic understanding of what allied posture goes to be.”
Bryant Harris is the Congress reporter for Protection Information. He has coated the intersection of U.S. overseas coverage and nationwide safety in Washington since 2014. He beforehand wrote for International Coverage, Al-Monitor, Al Jazeera English and IPS Information.
Joe Gould is senior Pentagon reporter for Protection Information, protecting the intersection of nationwide safety coverage, politics and the protection trade.