https://www.defensenews.com/congress...-and-uk-alive/
Lawmakers exhort Trump: Keep security pact with Australia and UK alive
U.S. lawmakers from both parties are urging the Trump administration to maintain a
three-way security partnership designed to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines — a plea that comes as the Pentagon reviews the agreement and considers the questions it has raised about the American industrial infrastructure’s shipbuilding capabilities.
Two weeks ago, the Defense Department announced it would review AUKUS, the 4-year-old pact signed by the Biden administration with Australia and the United Kingdom. The announcement means the Republican administration is looking closely at a partnership that many believe is critical to the U.S. strategy to push back China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific. The review is expected to be completed in the fall.
“AUKUS is essential to strengthening deterrence in the Indo-Pacific and advancing the undersea capabilities that will be central to ensuring peace and stability,” Republican Rep. John Moolenaar of Michigan and Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois wrote in a July 22 letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Moolenaar chairs the House panel on China and Krishnamoorthi is its top Democrat.
The review comes as the Trump administration works to rebalance its global security concerns while struggling with a hollowed-out industrial base that has hamstrung
U.S. capabilities to build enough warships. The review is being led by
Elbridge Colby, the No. 3 Pentagon official, who has expressed skepticism about the partnership.
“If we can produce the attack submarines in sufficient number and sufficient speed, then great. But if we can’t, that becomes a very difficult problem,” Colby said during his
confirmation hearing in March. “This is getting back to restoring our defense industrial capacity so that we don’t have to face these awful choices but rather can be in a position where we can produce not only for ourselves, but for our allies.”……..
Defense policy is one of the few areas where Republican lawmakers have pushed back against the Trump administration, but their resolve is being tested with the Pentagon’s review of AUKUS. So far, they have joined their Democratic colleagues in voicing support for the partnership.
They said the U.S. submarine industry is rebounding with congressional appropriations totaling $10 billion since 2018 to ensure the U.S. will have enough ships to allow for sales to Australia.
Sen.
Tim Kaine, D-Va., told the AP that support for AUKUS is strong and bipartisan, “certainly on the Armed Services Committee.”
“There is a little bit of mystification about the analysis done at the Pentagon,” Kaine said, adding that “maybe [what] the analysis will say is: We believe this is a good thing.”