{"id":33122,"date":"2022-12-01T20:21:10","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T20:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/12\/01\/congress-wants-to-arm-taiwan-but-hasnt-figured-out-how-to-pay-for-it\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:36:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:36:26","slug":"congress-wants-to-arm-taiwan-but-hasnt-figured-out-how-to-pay-for-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2022\/12\/01\/congress-wants-to-arm-taiwan-but-hasnt-figured-out-how-to-pay-for-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress wants to arm Taiwan, but hasn\u2019t figured out how to pay for it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 Lawmakers eager to boost security aid to Taiwan<\/a> may soon authorize as much as $10 billion<\/a> in new State Department financing for Taipei to buy U.S. weaponry. But it\u2019s an open question whether appropriators will approve the actual dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A soon-to-be-released draft 2023 National Defense Authorization Act<\/a> would authorize $2 billion in aid per year over five years and another $1 billion annually in equipment from U.S. military stockpiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But while authorization bills can create programs, only appropriations bills have the legal authority to spend U.S. funds. And key Democratic appropriators are expressing misgivings. Given the steady pressure from Republicans to lower the State Department\u2019s budget, some worry adding new spending on Taiwan aid would mean cuts for other areas of diplomacy, potentially including security aid to other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of us, including myself, expressed the concern that if we put out the big authorizing number on Taiwan, but could not meet it [with appropriations], that would send the wrong signal,\u201d Sen. Chris Van Hollen<\/a>, D-Md., who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee and the State Department appropriations panel, told Defense News. \u201cWe were also concerned that unless we increased the overall authorization for foreign assistance, it would eat into other important security assistance programs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Congress takes up a massive 2023 NDAA reconciled between the House and Senate, expected later this month, <\/b>it will include security aid provisions derived from the bipartisan Taiwan Policy Act, which the Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced 17-5 last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The $2 billion per year proposed for Taiwan is in Foreign Military Financing \u2014 a program that allows other countries to purchase U.S. military equipment with grants and loans. That could loom large in a State Department budget that totaled $56 billion for fiscal 2022, with roughly $6 billion for FMF. Of the 25-plus countries that receive FMF annually, the major recipients are Israel ($3.3 billion), Egypt ($1.3 billion), Jordan ($425 million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taiwan, whose wealth per capita was recently ranked<\/a> first in Asia, is not among countries the State Department lists as FMF recipients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fears the State Department budget will come under pressure are especially potent as Washington prepares for split rule with a GOP-led House. Although Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress last year, Republicans managed to kill the Biden administration\u2019s proposed 12% increase to the State Department\u2019s topline and kept its budget flat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Hollen had called for an even higher increase of nearly 21%, noting the Pentagon, whose budget came in at $782 billion this year, receives multibillion increases every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democratic Sen. Chris Coons<\/a>, who chairs the Senate subpanel responsible for funding the State Department and foreign aid, told Defense News he supports a \u201cmore robust\u201d U.S. security relationship with Taiwan, but the question is how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo the extent I have repeatedly raised some questions or concerns, one of them is: How will we pay for this?\u201d Coons, of Delaware, said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coons said the demand for new Taiwan aid comes as his subcommittee is already juggling \u201cdramatically growing\u201d responsibilities. That includes filling other pots of U.S. aid to counter China\u2019s global influence and for humanitarian relief in the midst of a refugee and hunger crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\t