A Democratic congressman has rejected the Pentagon’s claims that it halted shipments of U.S. military weapons and munitions to Ukraine over concerns about dwindling American stockpiles.
Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, told NBC News the U.S. isn’t facing a worrying shortage of weapons and suggested the decision is part of a broader agenda to cut military aid to the country fighting off Russia’s invasion.
“We are not at any lower point, stockpile-wise, than we’ve been in the three and a half years of the Ukraine conflict,” Smith said. The Washington lawmaker added that his staff has “seen the numbers” of available stockpiles, and they do not justify suspending aid to Ukraine.
Politico originally reported that the move to pause some weapons shipments was spearheaded by Elbridge Colby, President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as undersecretary of defense for policy.
Colby has long argued that the U.S. should scale back its commitment to helping Ukraine, calling instead for America’s national security focus to shift toward China and the Indo-Pacific region.
However, the pause was actually a “unilateral step” taken by Hegseth, with Colby supporting the decision, according to NBC News, which cites multiple unnamed sources. It’s the third time Hegseth has attempted to halt military aid to Ukraine, with his previous efforts in February and May reversed days later.
Hegseth’s latest decision followed a memo he sent ordering the Pentagon’s Joint Staff to review U.S. munitions stockpiles. The review found that while some high-precision munitions are running low, levels haven’t dropped below critical minimums, sources told NBC News.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell addressed the review during a press briefing on Wednesday. “We’re always assessing our munitions and where we’re sending them and part of what we wanted to do here at the department was, again, create a framework,” Parnell said.
“We can’t give weapons to everybody all around the world. We have to look out for America and defending our homeland and our troops around the world.”
Elsewhere, Trump complained Thursday that the U.S. under President Joe Biden’s administration had given “so many weapons” away.
“And we’re working with [Ukraine] and trying to help them, but we haven’t [completely stopped],” Trump said. “You know, Biden emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves.”
Overnight, Moscow launched the largest barrage of missiles and drones against Kyiv since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion three years ago. The attack came mere hours after Trump said he’d held a disappointing phone call with Putin about seeking an end to the conflict.
“I didn’t make any progress with him at all,” Trump told reporters on Thursday.
The Defense Department declined to comment further when contacted by The Daily Beast.
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