More than 40 Democrats in the House of Representatives have signed a letter to President Donald Trump calling for his administration to reinforce its role in arms control and bolster its nonproliferation efforts as it prepares a Nuclear Posture Review.
The June 13 letter, signed by Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), John Garamendi (D-Calif.), and a host of others, encourages the Trump administration to “Reaffirm U.S. leadership for reducing the role and number of U.S. nuclear weapons globally,” including by extending the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia.
The agreement, which requires each side by next February to cap its deployed nuclear arsenal at 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads and 700 long-range delivery systems, allows for a five-year treaty extension past its 2021 expiration. The administration, however, has not yet said whether it would pursue this route. Trump’s options include negotiating a follow-on agreement or abandoning it entirely.
The letter hails New START for providing transparency into Russia’s nuclear forces, saying the treaty “provides stability and predictability that we don’t want to lose.”
It also calls on the president to find opportunities to bring Russia back into compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which U.S. officials have determined Moscow is violating by flight testing and most recently deploying a ground-launched cruise missile.
The lawmakers urge the administration to fund nonproliferation efforts and international institutions involved in securing nuclear weapons-usable materials worldwide – such as the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Meanwhile, they call for a “more cost-effective approach” to nuclear modernization; Democrats have long criticized the U.S. plan to spend $1 trillion over 30 years to upgrade each leg of the nuclear triad, which both the former and current administrations have supported.
“Instead of a one-for-one replacement of each existing nuclear weapons system, we encourage you to prioritize finite defense dollars on securing and hardening command and control systems,” the letter says, calling for a reconsideration of spending by the Energy and Defense departments.
The signatories want a response by July 13 with information on the administration’s approach to nuclear policy and the Nuclear Posture Review process.