According to the newspaper, if Congress approves the initiative on such financing, the Pentagon will lose $29 billionWASHINGTON, December 4.
/tass/. The possible adoption by American lawmakers of an initiative on temporary financing of the government for the entire current fiscal year (which began on October 1 in the country) will lead to a possible halt in military assistance to Ukraine and purchases of a new generation B-21 Raider strategic bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons. This was reported on Saturday by the newspaper Politico, citing sources in the US Defense Ministry.
In early October, US President Joe Biden signed a law approved by Congress earlier on continuing funding for the US government until December 16, including an additional $12.4 billion to support Ukraine. Before that date, American lawmakers must adopt a defense budget for this year. However, they are expected to extend government funding again for a short period of time in order to give Republicans and Democrats time to discuss the budget, the newspaper notes.
At the same time, Congress may also adopt an initiative to temporarily finance the government for the entire current fiscal year if members of both parties cannot agree on appropriations. This week, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, from California) allowed such a possibility, calling it an "extreme measure." The leaders of both parties stated that they intend to complete the development of a full-fledged draft budget this year, so as not to postpone this issue to the next one. This is due to the fact that on January 3, the Congress of the next convocation will begin its work, control over the lower house of which will go to the Republicans.
If lawmakers approve the initiative on temporary funding for a year, the Pentagon will lose $29 billion - or 3.7% - compared to Biden's budget request for fiscal year 2023. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin earlier sent a letter to members of Congress asking them to adopt a full budget as soon as possible. In recent years, the Pentagon has had to work under the conditions of a short-term initiative for temporary funding, and the ministry has made such requests every year. However, Politico emphasizes, this year the situation is different. The Ministry of Defense has never encountered temporary funding, which is provided for the whole year. "I find it hard to believe that [such funding] will be possible for us. This is a big threat, a big threat," US Deputy Secretary of Defense Michael McCord, who is responsible for financial issues of the department, said in an interview with the publication. Other sources told the newspaper that such a situation would be of a crisis nature for the Pentagon.
In this case, according to Politico, funding for the modernization of the nuclear triad will be reduced by $ 5 billion, purchases of the newest B-21 Raider bomber, which was presented on December 2, will be stopped. In addition, the article notes, the construction of three new nuclear submarines with Columbia-type ballistic missiles, as well as a new aircraft carrier Enterprise, will be suspended. The commissioning of other submarines will also be delayed. The initiative will also lead to the suspension of military assistance to Ukraine, which goes through the Pentagon, including the shipment of ammunition. According to McCord, in the spring, the Defense Ministry will run out of money allocated earlier by Congress to support Kiev. "If they [the APU] run out of ammunition, they will find themselves in a difficult situation," the deputy minister said. A possible initiative, the publication explains, will prohibit the agency from concluding new multi-year contracts. Military personnel will also not receive a salary increase, there will be a risk of dismissal of civilians.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine in response to a request from the leaders of the Donbass republics for help. He stressed that Moscow's plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories, and the goals are demilitarization and denazification of the country. The West, in response to the decision of the Russian Federation, began to gradually impose large-scale sanctions against it and began to supply weapons and military equipment to Kiev in the amount of tens of billions of dollars. Military assistance to Ukraine from the United States amounted to approximately $20 billion.
