Ukraine hawks are boiling over at the Pentagon’s decision to halt shipments of some lethal aid to Ukraine, with phone lines burning up as Kyiv and its supporters in Congress scrambled to keep supply lines open.
At least two House Republicans released statements warning against such a move, but most in the party kept any concerns private pending more information directly from the administration.
“I don’t have any reason to be upset about it until I learn more,” House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) told Politico, adding he hadn’t been informed about the pause ahead of news reports.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, requested an emergency briefing from the White House on the status of defensive arms transfers to Ukraine.
“Ukrainian forces are not only safeguarding their homeland—they are holding the front line of freedom itself,” he said. “There can be no half-measures in the defense of liberty. We must, as we always have, stand for peace through strength.”
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), former chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he led the effort to pass the most recent Ukraine funding package “to ensure Ukraine finally had the weapons it needed to repel Russia’s [vicious] and unprovoked attack.”
“We can’t let [Russian President Vladimir] Putin prevail now. President Trump knows that too and it’s why he’s been advocating for peace. Now is the time to show Putin we mean business. And that starts with ensuring Ukraine has the weapons Congress authorized to pressure Putin to the negotiating table,” he said in a statement on social platform X.
Top Democrats — including Fitzpatrick’s Democratic co-chair, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — were quick to blast the reports of a weapons halt.
Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, slammed the administration for leaving Congress out of the loop and jeopardizing U.S. national security.
“The Administration has not consulted with Congress on this reported decision, including what else was prioritized and the trade-offs that were considered. In this context, cutting off a crucial avenue of support for Ukraine in a critical moment of their national survival is strategically and morally wrong,” he said in a statement.
“This decision clearly appears to be part of an effort to reward Putin.”
The Pentagon is framing the halt in weapons transfers as a review of its own munitions stockpiles and a preservation of U.S. force readiness.
“We see this as a common sense, pragmatic step towards having a framework to evaluate what munitions were sent and where,” chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told reporters Wednesday.
The capability review “is being conducted to ensure U.S. military aid aligns with our defense priorities,” he said.
Parnell declined to say the specific quantities or types of munitions that have been halted, nor did he say the timelines associated with the transfers.
He also blamed the Biden administration for what he framed as a weapons giveaway.
“I think that for a long time, four years under the Biden administration, we were giving away weapons and munitions without really thinking about how many we have,” Parnell said.
Republican lawmakers with oversight of the military and foreign relations appeared caught off guard by the Pentagon’s move.
Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Politico he hadn’t heard of a specific delay but said there’s a constant “check and balance.”
“You always want to make sure that your supply line is smooth, but if you’re constantly making the checks, then it keeps them constantly vigilant,” Mast told the outlet.
Mike Pompeo, who served as secretary of State during Trump’s first term and traveled to Ukraine in late May, raised concerns about Russia benefitting from the weapons disruption.
“Ukraine has never asked America to send in the 82nd airborne; they’ve asked for the weapons to defend their homeland and people from Russia attacks,” he posted on X.
“Letting Russia win this war would be a unmitigated disaster for the American people and our security around the world.”
The Ukrainian government is downplaying the potential halt in weapons shipments as Kyiv seeks answers from Washington.
“Currently, at the working levels between Ukraine and the United States, all the details of the supply of defense support, including the air defense component, are being clarified,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address to the nation.
“One way or another, we must ensure protection for our people.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry summoned a top U.S. Embassy official, John Ginkel, on Wednesday to discuss the state of U.S. weapons support. A readout of the meeting said that Kyiv “emphasized the importance of continuing the delivery of previously allocated defense packages, especially focusing on strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses.”
“Ukraine supports peace efforts and the U.S. position on the immediate need to stop the killings and end the war, and highlights the need of forcing Russia to peace,” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“In these circumstances, strengthening Ukraine’s defense capabilities and increasing coordinated transatlantic pressure on the aggressor are critically important.”
State Departement spokesperson Tammy Bruce pushed back at questions Wednesday about a change to U.S. support for Ukraine, referring questions about what specific weapons would be paused to the Pentagon.
“This is not — I will reinforce this — this is not a cessation of us assisting Ukraine or of providing weapons. This is one event in one situation, and we’ll discuss what else comes up in the future, but be wary of painting too broad a brush there,” she said at a press briefing.
The move comes as Russia has increased its missile barrages against Ukraine in an effort to exhaust the supplies it has on hand while pushing forward on the ground to move the front line and take additional Ukrainian territory.
“I call on all friends of Ukraine to make every effort possible to resume supplies or allow urgent purchases of U.S. air defense systems and missiles for them. Thousands, millions of Ukrainian lives are literally at stake,” Anton Gerashchenko, former adviser to Ukraine’s Internal Affairs Minister, said in a post on X.
