{"id":32650,"date":"2018-05-10T04:31:08","date_gmt":"2018-05-10T04:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/10\/dems-target-low-yield-nukes-but-hasc-approves-trump-plans-on-party-lines\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:38:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:38:18","slug":"dems-target-low-yield-nukes-but-hasc-approves-trump-plans-on-party-lines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2018\/05\/10\/dems-target-low-yield-nukes-but-hasc-approves-trump-plans-on-party-lines\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats target low-yield nukes, warn of slippery slope to \u2018nuclear war\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday rejected a series of Democratic amendments aimed at limiting the Trump administration\u2019s pursuit of low-yield nuclear weapons<\/a> to match Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The amendments were sharply debated and then voted down largely along party lines during the panel\u2019s markup of the National Defense Authorization Act. Republicans held a 33-28 majority on the panel, with one of their members, Rep. Walter Jones, absent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats argued the U.S. development of a low-yield weapon \u2015 likely a submarine-launched cruise missile \u2015 will be destabilizing, fuel an international arms race and lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to have a credible deterrence, but I think the Nuclear Posture Review<\/a> goes way beyond credible nuclear deterrence and puts you into a position where we risk miscalculation and we could stumble into a nuclear war,\u201d said HASC Ranking Member Adam Smith, D-Wash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are on the track toward a new nuclear arms race, this time including Russia and China, the United States and perhaps other countries along the way. It\u2019s extraordinarily dangerous, and we need to be very cautious here,\u201d said Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans sided with the Pentagon<\/a>, countering that the nation needs a robust nuclear program to pose a credible deterrent and keep pace with Russia and China, who they say are rapidly modernizing their nuclear arsenals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis committee knows what Russia\u2019s up to with its nuclear weapons. It\u2019s both sobering and horrifying,\u201d said HASC Strategic Forces Subcommittee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala. \u201cWe also know Russia\u2019s nuclear doctrine is to use low-yield nuclear weapons early in a conflict to get the U.S. to back down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under Russia\u2019s \u201cescalate to de-escalate\u201d concept, the country would be willing to use a tactical nuclear weapon in a conventional war to compel surrender, assuming NATO allies \u2014 when faced with using a strategic nuclear weapon or not responding at all \u2014 will back down in a conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans dealt Democrats a series of defeats on a series of proposals: Smith\u2019s amendment to move $65 million in the bill for a low-yield nuclear weapon to readiness; Garamendi\u2019s amendment to bar authorization for a low-yield nuclear weapon unless DoD submits a report on the weapon\u2019s strategic stability and Rep. Susan Davis\u2019 reduction in spending on the Long Range Standoff cruise missile<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t