Several top Democrats are tearing into Senate Republicans' draft coronavirus relief legislation for proposing another $30 billion in defense spending, saying the bill's provisions prioritize buying weapons over aiding unemployed Americans during the pandemic.
The $1 trillion GOP package, released last night, includes billions for the Pentagon to buy more fighters, ships and combat vehicles, among other assets.
"While doing nothing to address rising hunger or provide payroll protection for state and local workers in critical jobs, Senate Republicans are splurging on weapons procurement," House Appropriations Chair Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.
"Amphibious ships don’t feed hungry children, and the Senate Republican bill doesn’t meet the desperate needs of the American people," she added.
The criticism from Lowey and other Democrats indicate that billions more for weapons programs will likely be a source of friction with the House — in addition to deep divides between the parties on unemployment benefits, aid to state and local governments and liability protection for businesses and schools. A $3 trillion relief bill passed by House Democrats in May didn't include any additional defense funding.
The GOP relief legislation sets aside $29.4 billion for the Defense Department and to cover pandemic-related costs to the defense industry. Of that, approximately $11 billion covers reimbursements made to contractors who provide paid or sick leave to employees who can't access federal facilities during the pandemic, which was mandated in March under the CARES Act.
But critics have trained their fire on a separate provision that sets aside more than $8 billion for procurement and other acquisition funding for major weapons programs.
Of that total, the Senate GOP bill includes $686 million for more Lockheed Martin F-35A fighters for the Air Force, $720 million for C-130J transport planes and $650 million to replace the wings on A-10 jets. It also sets aside $1 billion for the Navy to purchase more Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance planes.
The legislation also allocates an extra $2.2 billion for Navy shipbuilding, including $1.4 billion for four new expeditionary medical ships, $260 million for the Expeditionary Fast Transport and $250 million for amphibious warships.
It also adds $800 million for National Guard and Reserve equipment accounts.
Though the bill states the funding for each program is "to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, domestically or internationally," it is unclear what link each specific weapons program has to pandemic aid.
In some areas, the programs that would receive funding had been cut in February when the Pentagon diverted money toward President Donald Trump's border wall effort. That includes Guard and Reserve equipment accounts and the Expeditionary Fast Transport, which is built by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., which is Senate Appropriations Chair Richard Shelby's home state.
House Armed Services Chair Adam Smith (D-Wash.) accused Senate GOP leaders of attempting to capitalize on the urgency of the pandemic to replenish weapons accounts raided for the border wall while opposing more generous jobless benefits "in the name of fiscal responsibility."
"While it is true that COVID-19 poses a real and credible threat to our national security, you don’t have to be doctor or a four-star general to understand that spending billions on new helicopters, combat vehicles, and fighter jets is not the solution to this complex problem," Smith said in a statement.
The move to beef up weapons programs was derided by Democrats and progressive groups who have opposed more military money after lawmakers granted the Pentagon an extra $10 billion to help battle the pandemic.
"I forgot about that new feature in F-35s where they feed families & pay rent," Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, tweeted Monday evening after the bill's release.
A spokesperson for Shelby defended the chairman's approach, arguing the measure will bolster the industrial base at a tenuous time.
"The pandemic continues to threaten the defense industrial base and thousands of vulnerable suppliers across the country who support it. That puts thousands and thousands of jobs in jeopardy," Shelby spokesperson Alyssa Pettus said in a statement. "The Chairman believes Congress must act, not turn a blind eye."
On the Senate floor Tuesday, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed the measure as a "wish list for defense contractors."
"Who are the Republicans fighting for in this proposal? If you're a big bank, a defense contractor, a member of the Trump family, the Republican proposal has some good news for you," Schumer said. "But if you can barely afford the rent, can't find work, can't feed your kids or are fighting [for] your family's future, the Republican plan leaves you out in the cold."
Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the top Senate Appropriations Democrat, also dinged the extra defense spending, as well as a proposal for $1.75 billion for a new FBI headquarters building in Washington, D.C., saying "the bill contains billions of dollars for programs unrelated to the coronavirus."
"What does this have to do with the immediate crisis?" he asked.
Republicans and Democrats must still hammer out the differences in their bills before a new round of economic relief can go to Trump's desk.
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