Developing: The Pentagon has put a hold on sending some munitions promised to Ukraine, amid concerns U.S. stockpiles are too low, according to reports in Politico and the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.
The Defense Department’s policy chief drove the decision, officials said, following an inventory of missiles and artillery shells.
Background: The U.S. has given Ukraine millions of 155 mm howitzer rounds, prompting the Army to open new factories and more than double its production. Read more on all that, here.
President Trump said last week he would look for more ways to support Ukrainian air defense, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., pointed out in a Tuesday statement, and this move sends mixed messages that undermine U.S. efforts to negotiate a peace agreement with Russia.
“If there is a real concern over stockpiles, the Administration should consult with the relevant committee in advance,” she said.
Expert reax: “The decision to intervene and prevent planned munitions deliveries to Ukraine is short-sighted and will put Ukrainians at risk and reduce the credibility of U.S. deterrence globally,” Mark Montgomery of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington told The D Brief. “Even if Bridge Colby is somehow right and we should have never supported Ukraine—once the U.S. started providing assistance and got the Ukrainians dependent on the U.S. defense industrial base—to pull the rug out on defensive weapons now is unconscionable.”
“This will hurt deterrence everywhere,” Montgomery said. “The Ukrainians are not going to lose to Russia. But the absence of these munitions will mean more civilian deaths, more critical infrastructure damage and more military casualties for Ukraine. Far from pressuring Russia and holding Moscow accountable for its illegal and criminal attacks on Ukraine, Colby and the administration have consistently taken actions to weaken Ukraine while doing nothing to pressure the aggressor Russia.”
“This decision is a stain on America’s reputation and will weaken the credibility of U.S. security guarantees around the world,” said the retired U.S. Navy rear admiral.
New: Army secretary axes all 115 of the service’s civilian community advisers, Military.com reported. The 100-year-old, volunteer Civilian Aids to the Secretary of the Army program deputizes community members to participate in local events and spread the Army’s message. In a message sent to the former aides Friday, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said he was wiping the slate clean to make room for “civilian expertise in strategic communication, advanced technology, innovation and digital transformation.”
USS Narco Sub: Marines testing surface drone for moving bullets, chow. Leidos’ Sea Specter – a low-floating, autonomous boat inspired by semi-submersibles cartels use to move drugs – can transport 5 tons of supplies across the Pacific with minimal detection, Defense One’s Meghann Myers reports. The Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel program, its official name, is on track for a contract award in 2027.
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Welcome to this Wednesday edition of The D Brief, a newsletter dedicated to developments affecting the future of U.S. national security, brought to you by Ben Watson and Meghann Myers. Share your tips and feedback here. And if you’re not already subscribed, you can do that here. On this day in 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, ending legal segregation.
‘Megabill’ developments
Vice President J.D. Vance cast the deciding vote Tuesday for the Senate’s reconciliation bill (PDF), which includes $150 billion for defense and even more for immigration enforcement, sending the bill back to the House for a vote on the upper chamber’s changes.
Next up: “Republicans can only afford to lose three votes…assuming full attendance and united Democratic opposition” in the House on Wednesday, The Hill reports. At issue? “Conservatives are upset with the amount of money the bill would add to the deficit, while moderates are concerned about Medicaid cuts and the rollback of green-energy tax credits.”
About the bill’s $150 billion for defense: “[T]he Pentagon hopes to employ $113 billion of the defense funds in FY26 in order to pay for major weapons investments, including 16 naval ships and a $25 billion down payment on the Golden Dome missile shield,” Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.
As for the rest of DOD’s money, “In its delayed spending request last week, the Defense Department issued an $848 million base budget request, which is a cut when accounting for inflation,” Military Times writes. Meanwhile, “the Pentagon is counting on $113 billion in immediate funding from the supplemental spending bill in Congress, bringing the total for military spending closer to $960 billion.”
Also in the reconciliation bill: $170 billion for the Trump administration’s immigration priorities, including $51.6 billion for wall building, $45 billion for detention facilities, and $29.9 billion for enforcement.
Nontrivial trivia: ICE is on the brink of having significantly more money at its disposal than the Marine Corps (at $57 billion).
Why is the GOP rushing to pass the bill by July 4? “The Department of Homeland Security has blown through its budget and needs the bill’s additional funding to operate,” Boston College’s Heather Cox Richardson writes.
By the way: The Air Force will be managing the Trump administration’s new militarized border zone in Texas, which stretches an estimated 250 miles along the Rio Grande River along the border with Mexico, Military Times reported Monday, citing a service announcement that we’d missed last Wednesday.
U.S. troops are expected to “monitor the area, install barriers and signage, conduct patrols and stop any trespassers…only temporarily and transfer them to the custody of law enforcement authorities,” Military Times writes.
There are two such militarized border zones: One in New Mexico spanning “approximately 170 miles of noncontiguous land along the state’s border, [and] serving as an extension of Fort Huachuca,” and the other is the one noted above in Texas, “covering approximately 63 miles of noncontiguous land between El Paso and Fort Hancock, serving as an extension of Fort Bliss,” the Air Force said in its release last week.
And ICYMI: The U.S. military wants to pull 200 troops assigned to watch protesters in California so they can help fight forest fires, Tara Copp of the Associated Press reported Monday.
“California has just entered peak wildfire season, and [Gov. Gavin Newsom] has warned that the Guard is now understaffed due to the Los Angeles protest deployment,” Copp writes. A bit more, here.
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