Pentagon Chief Warns Congress US Troops Could Be Deployed If Ukraine Aid Isn’t Passed: Lawmaker
On November 22, 2023, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin delivered a speech at the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group (UDCG) virtual meeting held at the Pentagon.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Congress on Tuesday that if Ukraine is not provided with more aid, the United States may have to station troops in Europe to protect NATO allies.
“If Vladimir Putin takes over Ukraine, he will take over Moldova, Georgia and then possibly the Baltic states,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told The Messenger after Austin’s remarks. Administration officials are urging Congress to approve more aid to Ukraine, according to the congressman.
“Then there’s a good chance we’ll have to do what Secretary Austin said and send troops,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to avoid.” He said he hoped Congress would pass funding for the Ukraine program.
The Defense Department has not commented publicly on McCall’s claims or projections of how U.S. troops will be deployed to Europe. The Epoch Times contacted a Pentagon spokesman for comment.
However, House Speaker Mike Johnson and some Republican lawmakers said the Pentagon’s remarks did not win their support. For months, Republicans have said they want more transparency about Ukraine funding while seeking to tie it to issues such as strengthening U.S.-Mexico border security.
“Joe Biden needs to do his job and secure our border,” Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., told reporters on Tuesday. “You do that, and then members of Congress are going to talk about it. (The issue of funding to Ukraine).”
“I don’t think we got the clarity we asked for,” Johnson told reporters as he left the briefing on Tuesday, adding, “It remains to be seen whether MPs are satisfied with the answers that have been provided.”
Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., said after the briefing, “I didn’t feel like there was any change of mind… other than what you might have seen on the news, it didn’t give people a “It doesn’t leave any deep impression or originality.” “It’s just an effort to apply pressure.”
Earlier this week, the White House sent a letter to Congress warning that time was running out to pass a new Ukraine funding package.
The warning came after a Senate vote to reject a spending bill to provide hundreds of billions of dollars in emergency aid to Ukraine and Israel on Wednesday.
The vote was 49-51, leaving the $110.5 billion bill short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate, threatening President Joe Biden’s push to provide new aid by the end of 2023.
The bill would provide Ukraine with about $50 billion for new security assistance and humanitarian and economic aid for the government in Kyiv, and an additional $14 billion for Israel to help it fight the Hamas terror group in Gaza.
The vote was along party lines, with all Senate Republicans joining Democrat Bernie Sanders in voting no.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also voted against it so he could introduce the bill again in the future.
After the vote, Schumer said Ukraine was in danger of collapse, calling it “a serious moment that will have lasting consequences for the 21st century” and could lead to the decline of Western liberal democracies.
“In response, Biden said at the White House on Wednesday that he was willing to make “significant concessions on the border” to pass the aid bill. “We need to fix a broken border system. It’s broken,” he said, adding that he was “also ready to change policy.”
The emergency spending bill backed by Democrats also includes $20 billion for border security. But Republicans say rampant illegal immigration along the southern border with Mexico is an extremely important security issue that must be addressed.