Dems demand Mattis, Pompeo brief on Trump’s withdrawal from arms control treaty

Top Democrats on the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees on Wednesday demanded a briefing from the Trump administration on its plans to withdraw from a landmark arms control treaty with Russia.

In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis, the lawmakers warned that withdrawing from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty could “risk an arms race.”

“We write to express our grave concern that the Trump administration is notifying Russia that the United States intends to unilaterally withdraw from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, without any notice to or consultation with Congress, even as our committees had requested a briefing on these issues,” wrote Reps. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the ranking members of Armed Services and Foreign Affairs, respectively.

“If this action is taken, it would risk an arms race, would jeopardize the security of our allies in Europe and Asia, and would significantly undermine U.S. leadership on arms control,” they added.

The letter was co-signed by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats.

President Trump confirmed over the weekend that he intends to withdraw from the 1987 arms control treaty. He cited what his administration says are continued violations by the Russians.

National security adviser John Bolton reaffirmed the decision Tuesday when meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and said a formal notice of withdrawal “will be filed in due course.”

The treaty, which has been credited with helping end the Cold War, bans nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 310 and 3,400 miles.

In 2014, the United States accused Russia of violating the treaty by testing a banned missile. Earlier this year, it said Russia further violated the treaty by deploying the missile.

The Trump administration also argues that withdrawal is necessary to counter China, which is not a party to the treaty.

In their four-page letter, Democrats requested Mattis and Pompeo brief lawmakers when Congress reconvenes the week of Nov. 13.

“We expect a full explanation of why Congress was not even informed of such a decision, and an explanation of why the administration has chosen to take such precipitous, ill-advised – and potentially reckless – action, rather than working with our allies to increase pressure on Russia to return to compliance under the treaty,” they wrote.

Trump’s decision, they said, “discards the results of the administration’s own extensive review” on how to respond to Russia’s violations. The Pentagon has not made any determination on testing or deploying intermediate-range missiles that would justify withdrawing from the treaty, the lawmakers added.

The administration’s move also plays into Putin’s hands, the Democrats argued, by allowing him to expand his missile arsenal unfettered and shift blame to the United States for the death of the treaty.

The lawmakers went on to argue that withdrawal would create an unnecessary divide within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

“Furthermore, the administration failed to take any effective actions to try to bring Russia back into compliance, including using the dispute resolution mechanism in the INF Treaty, or other diplomatic and economic measures,” they wrote.

The lawmakers requested Mattis and Pompeo provide written answers to their questions by Nov. 2. They asked for an assessment of the military threat to the United States and its European allies of deploying intermediate-range missiles without restriction, the status of the administration’s December 2017 announcement on using an integrated approach to push Russia back into compliance and the status of consultations with allies.

The lawmakers also raised concerns about the status of a separate treaty with Russia known as New START, which caps the number of nuclear warheads each country is allowed to deploy. The treaty is up for renewal in 2021.

“As you know, the INF Treaty, alongside New START Treaty, forms the basis for our strategic relationship with Russia,” they wrote. “These treaties have been crucial tools to help preserve U.S. and European security and reduce the risk of nuclear war with Russia by ensuring mutual transparency and stability of both the U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles. They have also provided the framework enabling insight into Russia’s forces and on-site inspections to verify compliance. We will neither support, nor enable, a precipitous course of action that increases the risk of an unconstrained nuclear arms race.”