Washington was whipped up into a frenzy this week with news about the Russians pressed full-blown ahead with a Soviet-style arms race engineering nukes to target satellites in space. The fact that lawmakers would be surprised raises more concern about whether anyone on Capitol Hill has thought through the end goal of bankrolling a years-long proxy war in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Chairman, Mike Turner, released a statement pleading with the White House to deliver details about “a serious national security threat” without any elaboration on what kind. ABC News later reported the threat referenced is related to “Russia wanting to put a nuclear weapon into space.”
“This would not be to drop a nuclear weapon onto Earth but rather to possibly use against satellites,” ABC said. “Still, ‘it is very concerning and very sensitive,’ said one source, calling it ‘a big deal.'”
President Joe Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said from the White House press podium the administration was “surprised” by Turner’s request to expedite a classified briefing on the issue but refused to offer any insight about what, exactly, policymakers are suddenly worried about. Though Sullivan stressed that Biden, who was declared too senile to face federal charges last week, “is going to ensure the security of the American people.”
If ever there were a time to incite panic to blackmail lawmakers into rubber stamping whatever demands come from the national security state, now would be the prime opportunity. Turner’s statement arrived as the House deliberates on the Senate’s passage of $60 billion in additional military aid for Ukraine and the reauthorization of warrantless surveillance. Even NBC News highlighted Thursday that the specter of a “destabilizing” foreign weapon came from the Ohio lawmaker as the House Intelligence chair demanded billions more in wartime funds for Ukraine.
“GOP congressman warned of Russian threat as he advocates for Ukraine aid,” ran the headline.
Federalist Senior Editor John Davidson also pointed out that all of the commotion was really about a statement from Democrat House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
“The most urgent national security threat facing the American people right now is the possibility that Congress abandons Ukraine and allows Vladimir Putin’s Russia to win,” Jeffries said.
Now, on the eve of the two-year anniversary of the war, House Speaker Mike Johnson is under enormous pressure to approve the Senate’s $95 billion foreign spending package with roughly two-thirds for the proxy war in Ukraine. If passed, the total taxpayer payout to Kyiv will reach $170 billion, according to The New York Times. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill already committed $113 billion for Ukraine in 2022, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. The Congressional Research Service says, “NATO and EU members and other allies had committed $35 billion in security assistance to Ukraine through November 2023.”
Given that Western nations have pumped at least $148 billion into the Russian conflict with more on the way, why would anyone be surprised that President Vladimir Putin would engage in a 21st-century arms race?
