NEWS AND ANALYSIS:
Biden administration anti-nuclear policymakers suffered a bipartisan rebuke as Congress voted to reverse Pentagon plans to eliminate a nuclear-tipped, sea-launched cruise missile.
The Senate Armed Services Committee last week approved $25 million for the cruise missile, known as the SLCM-N, that is slated for cancelation under the Pentagon’s recent Nuclear Posture Review. The House Armed Services Committee, meeting Wednesday to mark up its version of the fiscal 2023 defense authorization bill, approved $45 million for the new cruise missile.
Rep. Jim Cooper, Tennessee Democrat and chairman of the subcommittee on strategic forces, said the funds are needed to “keep the program warm” and give the military the option to build the missile in the future.