McCarthy’s ouster leaves future US Ukraine funding in peril
Jamie McIntyre
DEAL DISAPPEARS WITH McCARTHY’S DEPARTURE: President Joe Biden believed he had some sort of agreement with embattled House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to bring a Ukraine funding measure to a vote, where it would pass with wide bipartisan support. But with McCarthy’s historic ouster as speaker engineered by a small faction of House Republicans, the deal, if it ever existed at all, has vanished, leaving crucial future funding in doubt.
“We have enough funding authorities to meet Ukraine’s battlefield needs for just a little bit longer, but we need Congress to act to ensure there is no disruption in our support, especially as the department seeks to replenish our stocks,” Sabrina Singh, deputy press secretary, said at the Pentagon yesterday. “We have seen bipartisan support for Ukraine in Congress, and we urge members of Congress to keep their commitment to the people of Ukraine and secure the passage of support needed to help Ukraine at this critical moment.”
The uncertainty over the capacity of the U.S. and Western partners to continue the uninterrupted flow of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine comes as the Pentagon has warned Congress it needs some of the new money to replace U.S. stockpiles depleted by ammunition already sent to Ukraine.
“Time is not our friend,” NSC spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House. “A lapse in support for even a short period of time could make all the difference on the battlefield.”
PENTAGON INFORMS CONGRESS IT IS LOW ON MONEY TO REPLACE OUTGOING WEAPONS TO UKRAINE
‘THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL IS NOW VISIBLE’: In remarks at the annual Warsaw Security Forum, Adm. Rob Bauer, the head of NATO’s Military Committee, warned that European arsenals are emptying. “We give away weapons systems to Ukraine, which is great, and ammunition, but not from full warehouses. We started to give away from half-full or lower warehouses in Europe,” Bauer said. “The bottom of the barrel is now visible.”
Bauer urged the European defense industry to step up ammunition production. “We need large volumes,” he said.
Biden convened a conference call yesterday with key allies in Europe, as well as the leaders of Canada and Japan, to discuss how to keep the arms flowing. “The president reaffirmed the strong commitment of the United States to supporting Ukraine as it defends itself for as long as it takes, as did every other leader on the call,” Kirby said. “The leaders discussed efforts to continue providing Ukraine with the ammunition and the weapons systems that it needs to defend its territory and to continue strengthening Ukrainian air defenses as they prepare for more attacks on critical infrastructure now, certainly, but also, certainly, in the winter months ahead.”
“As President Biden made clear, we cannot under any circumstances allow America’s support for Ukraine to be interrupted,” he said.
OPINION: WHY DOES THE EUROPEAN UNION GET A FREE PASS ON INADEQUATE UKRAINE SUPPORT?
McCARTHY: THERE WAS NO DEAL: In a news conference after losing his job, McCarthy adamantly denied he struck any side deal with the president on Ukraine funding. “Unequivocally no,” he said when asked directly.
“Look, I support arming Ukraine. That doesn’t mean sending them cash but arming Ukraine. But I have been on the White House — even before they sent this supplemental, I said, ‘You guys are doing it all wrong by just sending it as a supplemental.’ And I think the president is failing here because he’s not telling the American public what is the mission.”
“We can’t just throw money at it,” McCarthy said. “But the thing I would tell everybody is, more Americans are dying on the southern border than are dying in Ukraine. Each and every day, a plane of Americans crash from fentanyl. And I don’t understand how the White House continues to ignore it. My whole plan, and I’ve been upfront from the very beginning, what I would say, ‘If you want anything on Ukraine, we got to do something with the border.’”
BORDER SECURITY AND UKRAINE AID SHOULD NOT BE TIED TOGETHER, WHITE HOUSE SAYS
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HAPPENING TODAY: The Senate Appropriations Committee will get a closed briefing at 10 a.m. on U.S. assistance to Ukrainian air defenses. Testifying behind closed doors will be William LaPlante, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment; Douglas Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology; and Dana Stroul, deputy assistant defense secretary for the Middle East.
ALSO TODAY: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meets with Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara at the Pentagon at 1 p.m.
CARDIN BLOCKS EGYPT FUNDING: As one of his first actions after assuming the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) has blocked some $235 million in military aid to Egypt “until the country takes meaningful steps to improve human rights conditions in the country.”
Cardin, who is not running for reelection, replaced Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) as chairman after Menendez and his wife were indicted last month on charges of accepting cash and gold bars to influence some U.S. policy decisions in favor of Egypt.
“I intend to exercise fully the Committee’s oversight responsibilities and my authorities to hold foreign military funds and the sale of arms to the government of Egypt,” Cardin said in a statement. “I have spoken with Secretary Blinken, and I look forward to working with the Biden administration on our shared goal of protecting and expanding human rights in Egypt. My hold on current funds will remain until specific human rights progress is made.”
ARMY REVAMPS RECRUITING STRATEGY: After missing its recruiting goal for the second year in a row, the Army is overhauling its strategy for convincing young people to join up.
The sweeping overhaul of the recruiting effort comes after the Army fell short of its 2023 recruiting goals by 10,000 active-duty soldiers and following a detailed study of Army recruiting over the past 25 years.
“The competition for talented Americans is fierce, and it is fundamentally different than it was 50 or even 20 years ago,” Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said at a Pentagon news conference alongside Army chief of staff Gen. Randy George. “Understanding that reality is key to designing new practices that will make us a more attractive and compelling career choice for young Americans.”
The Army had hoped to bring in 65,000 new recruits but ended fiscal 2023 with only 55,000. However, it says it will still be able to meet its end-strength goal of 452,000 active-duty soldiers.
“There are a lot of things happening that are outside of the United States Army’s ability to control: the declining percentage of young Americans who are eligible to join the military, the declining propensity,” Wormuth said. “What we’ve really tried to focus on since this is an existential issue for us is, what can we change right now?”
Among the changes will be a focus on recruiting college students and graduates, not just high school students. “While today’s high school seniors comprise more than 50% of our annual contracts, they represent only 15%-20% of the larger prospect pool from which we could recruit,” Wormuth said. “This means that in addition to the high school market, we need to attract and hire Americans in the college market or those already out in the job market.”
The Army has set a new goal of increasing the percentage of new recruits with more than a high school degree to two-thirds by 2028, compared to 20 percent today.
MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT TABATABAI: Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Roger Wicker (R-MS), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, along with 29 other Republican senators, are questioning why a senior Pentagon official with alleged links to the Iranian government still has a security clearance.
“Ariane Tabatabai, the chief of staff to the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low intensity conflict, was reportedly engaged in an Iranian government-linked initiative to bolster the Iranian government’s image and reinforce Tehran’s national security views,” Risch and Wicker said in a press release. “Leaked emails show Tabatabai asking the Iranian government for input on her speaking engagements and offering to consult with the Iranian government on a congressional briefing that she was invited to give.”
In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin this week, the senators called it “unconscionable” that Tabatabai continues to hold a sensitive national defense-related position and called for the immediate suspension of her security clearance.
At the Pentagon yesterday, spokeswoman Sabrina Singh would only confirm that Tabatabai still holds her security clearance and went through a thorough vetting process. “I don’t have any more to provide on that,” she said.
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Calendar
WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 4
9:30 a.m. 332 Dirksen — A coalition of faith leaders stage a prayer vigil and sit-in to call for a ceasefire and peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, with Michele Dunne, executive director of the Franciscan Action Network; Tarunjit Butalia, executive director of Religions for Peace USA; the Rev. Adam Taylor, president of Sojourners; Joyce Ajlouny, general secretary of the American Friends Service Committee; Amelia Keagan, associate general secretary for policy at the Friends Committee On National Legislation; and Eli McCarthy, fellow at the Franciscan Action Network
10 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Hudson Institute discussion on “Integrating a Force for 21st Century Deterrence and Warfighting,” with Jim Taiclet, chairman, president, and CEO of Lockheed Martin, and Bryan Clark, director of the Hudson Center for Defense Concepts and Technology https://www.hudson.org/events/integrating-force-twenty-first-century
10:30 a.m. 37th and O Sts. NW — Georgetown University’s Center for Australian, New Zealand, and Pacific Studies discussion: “Transforming the Indo-Pacific Order: The AUKUS Wager,” with Charles Edel, Australia chairman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies https://www.georgetown.edu/event/transforming-the-indo-pacific-order
11 a.m. — Wilson Center Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies virtual discussion: “Holding Russia Accountable: Progress in Investigating and Prosecuting War Crimes in Ukraine,” with Clint Williamson, lead coordinator of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group and senior fellow for international rule of law, governance and security at Arizona State University’s McCain Institute for International Leadership https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/holding-russia-accountable
1 p.m. — Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft virtual discussion: “Is U.S.-China Conflict Inevitable?” with Michael Beckley, nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; Jake Werner, research fellow at the Quincy Institute; and Jessica Tuchman Matthews, fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace https://quincyinst.org/event/is-u-s-china-conflict-inevitable
1 p.m. — Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft virtual discussion: “Is U.S.-China Conflict Inevitable?” with Michael Beckley, nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; Jake Werner, research fellow at the Quincy Institute; and Jessica Tuchman Matthews, fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace https://quincyinst.org/event/is-u-s-china-conflict-inevitable
1 p.m. — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meets with Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara at the Pentagon
2 p.m. Austin, Texas — Clements Center for National Security and the University of Texas at Austin Strauss Center for International Security and Law discussion on the current state of international affairs, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken; and former Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison https://www.youtube.com/channel
2:30 p.m. 419 Dirksen — Senate Foreign Relations East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy Subcommittee hearing: “Security on the Korean Peninsula,” with testimony from Victor Cha, senior vice president for Asia and Korea chairman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Scott Snyder, senior fellow for Korea studies at the Council on Foreign Relations; and Jenny Town, senior fellow and director of the Stimson Center’s 38 North Program https://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/security-on-the-korean-peninsula
3 p.m. — Wilson Center’s Global Europe Program virtual discussion: “How Could Frozen Russian Assets be Used to Fund Ukraine’s Reconstruction?” with Philip Zelikow, visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution; former Deputy Secretary of State and former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, senior counselor at the Wilson Center’s Wahba Institute for Strategic Competition; Mark Kennedy, director of the Wilson Center’s Wahba Institute for Strategic Competition; and Robin Quinville, director of the Wilson Center’s Global Europe Program https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/how-could-frozen-russian-assets-be-used
THURSDAY | OCTOBER 5
9:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW — Center for Strategic and International Studies annual “China’s Power: Up for Debate 2023,” with Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs; Michael Beckley, director of the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Asia Program; Dan Blumenthal, American Enterprise Institute senior fellow; Fiona Cunningham, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania; Lonnie Henley, FPRI senior fellow; Phillip Saunders, director of the National Defense University’s Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs; Rick Waters, managing director of the Eurasia Group’s China practice; Arne Westad, professor at Yale University’s School of Global Affairs; Tong Zhao, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Nuclear Policy Program; and Bonny Lin, director of the CSIS China Power Project https://www.csis.org/events/chinas-power-debate-2023
9:30 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “China and Russia’s Role in North Korea’s Human Rights Abuses,” with Sue Mi Terry, Macro Advisory Partners senior adviser; Katrin Fraser Katz, CSIS nonresident adjunct fellow; Victor Cha, CSIS Korea chairman; and Mark Lippert, CSIS nonresident senior adviser https://www.csis.org/events/china-and-russias-role-north-koreas-human-rights-abuses
5 p.m. 1521 16th St. NW — The Institute of World Politics book discussion: Failed State: A Guide to Russia’s Rupture, with author Janusz Bugajski, senior fellow, Jamestown Foundation https://www.iwp.edu/events/the-impact-of-russias-state-failure
MONDAY | OCTOBER 9
8 a.m. 801 Mount Vernon Place NW — Association of the U.S. Army three-day Annual Meeting and Exposition, with the theme “Be All You Can Be.” Speakers include: Army Secretary Christine Wormuth; Gen. Randy George, Army vice chief of staff and current Army chief of staff nominee; and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Weimer https://meetings.ausa.org/annual/index.cfm
THURSDAY | OCTOBER 12
7 a.m. Brussels, Belgium — NATO defense ministers meet for two days at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. The meeting will be chaired by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news
QUOTE OF THE DAY “You know, I wouldn’t change a thing … to paraphrase Lou Gehrig, he said, I might’ve given a bad break, but I truly still consider myself to be the luckiest man on the face of the Earth … I worked with the other side so America could go forward and government could stay open. … You know, if you have to lose for something, I will always lose for the country. It is a much better battle to have.” Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), in a post-ouster news conference Tuesday.