Pentagon considering tapping last source of Ukraine military drawdown authority as Congress stalls on additional aid - CNN

The Pentagon is weighing whether to tap into the last remaining drawdown of ammunition it is permitted to use for military aid to support Ukraine’s war effort against Russia even without guarantees that those stocks will be replenished by Congress, multiple defense officials told CNN

The Defense Department still has around $4 billion in presidential drawdown authority available for Ukraine, which allows the Pentagon to draw from its own stockpiles to send military equipment to Kyiv.

But the Pentagon had previously been reluctant to spend any of that remaining stock without assurances it would be reimbursed by Congress through the administration’s $60 billion supplemental funding request, because taking from DoD stockpiles with no plan to replenish that equipment could impact US military readiness.

But with Ukraine growing increasingly desperate for US military aid and Republican leadership in the House refusing to hold a vote on providing more funding, senior defense officials are discussing whether there is any financial cushion internally that would allow the department to spend at least part of that remaining $4 billion to help Ukraine fight Russia.

No decisions have been made yet, officials emphasized. But the conversations about that option and other potential plan Bs have become increasingly urgent over the last several weeks as the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine has become more dire, the officials said.

“At issue here again is the question of impacting our own readiness, as a nation, and the responsibilities that we have,” he said last month when asked about the money. “

And so, yes, while we do have that $4.2 billion in authority, we don’t have the funds available to us to replenish those stocks should we expend that. And with no timeline in sight, we have to make those hard decisions.”