According to Politico magazine on Saturday, which cited internal papers from the Department of Defense and sources familiar with the situation, a predicted reduction in Pentagon funds might complicate US military assistance to Ukraine, including artillery and ammunition.
Republicans and Democrats are debating appropriations, and Congress has until December 16 to enact a continuing resolution, or CR, that would fund the military for the entire year. According to the source, the agreement would nevertheless reduce Pentagon funding by $29 billion, or 3.7%, from what the White House proposed for fiscal year 2023. This would require the Department of Defense to suspend important initiatives, such as support for Kiev during its battle with Russia.
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The senior financial officer of the Pentagon, Michael McCord, was quoted as saying on Saturday that the US would have difficulty supplying Ukraine with additional weapons since the funds designated by Kiev would expire in the spring.
“Ukraine is in a kinetic fight, and we are their No. 1 helper … If they run out of ammo, they’re in a bad place”.
It was claimed that the reduction in spending might also postpone modifications to a number of significant weapon systems, including the M777 howitzer that the US is supplying to Ukrainian forces.
Delays in the acquisition of Columbia-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines and B-21 Raider nuclear-capable long-range bombers are two further potential deficiencies mentioned in the documents reported by Politico.
The allegation comes after officials from the Pentagon told Congress that a funding cut this time would be especially harmful due to high inflation rates. According to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, “the thing that makes this year special is that inflation is occurring and is somewhat unpredictable, and a CR locks you into a previous year’s level of money while prices are growing.”
The White House asked Congress to approve an additional $37.7 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine last month. In less than a year, if approved, it would increase the total amount of money Congress has set aside for Ukraine to more than $100 billion.
