House Armed Services Committee Holds Hearing on US presence in Europe
The House Armed Services Committee will convene today to discuss the US’ military presence in Europe amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Since February, the US has mobilized roughly 11,800 troops in Europe, and US President Joe Biden has just proposed to increase spending for the Defense Department by $69 billion in the upcoming fiscal year, to a total of $773 billion.
The plan requests allocating $300 million to Ukraine, $6.9 billion for the European Deterrence Initiative and would also include new investments in military aircraft, high-tech weapons, and nuclear deterrence systems. However, the Pentagon may ask Congress for additional money to replenish the US’ arsenal for weapons sent to Kyiv, as the budget was finalized before the invasion.
So far, the US has reaffirmed its support of NATO by pledging to send six EA-18G Growlers and 240 air crew and maintainers to Germany. The US will likely pressure NATO countries to further aid nations on the Eastern flank such as Poland, which has been forced to accelerate defense modernization and has overstretched its defense budget. For its part in the long term, the US may increase its defense posture in Europe either permanently or with temporary deployments.
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