Pentagon unlikely to use all of the billions Congress authorized it to spend on Ukraine weapons before Biden leaves office, officials say

The Pentagon is unlikely to use all of the billions of dollars authorized by Congress to arm Ukraine before President Joe Biden leaves office, according to two US officials and three defense officials.

The Pentagon is unlikely to use all of the billions of dollars authorized by Congress to arm Ukraine before President Joe Biden leaves office, according to two US officials and three defense officials. The administration has less than two months left to use nearly $7 billion, part of a larger package authorized by Congress earlier this year to help Ukraine in the war with Russia. The funding allows the Defense Department to draw from its own stockpiles to send weapons, but shortages have limited how much the US can send to Kyiv in recent months. For months, the US has run into the limits of its ability to replenish its own weapons inventories, which limited what the Biden administration has been able to send Ukraine. The US has been growing its capacity to produce critical munitions, such as 155mm artillery shells, since virtually the beginning of the war nearly three years ago, but the ramp up in production is not yet complete. The Pentagon had pledged to use all of the remaining authority to provide the military aid as the situation has grown more urgent given the size of Russian attacks on Ukraine, including the recent first-time use of an intermediate-range ballistic missile with multiple warheads. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news. Last week, deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said the administration is “committed to using the full authority that Congress has allotted to us.”