A group of congressional Democrats introduced a bill Tuesday that would ban the Pentagon from developing a new low-yield nuclear warhead to counter Russia.
The submarine-launched warhead could trigger a dangerous new arms race and would use up needed military funding, say Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, three other congressmen, and one senator who sponsored the bill.
The move comes after Congress’ Republican majority decisively won the debate this year by approving $65 million for the Pentagon to develop the W76-2 warhead as part of a minibus spending package that was sent to President Trump last week.
“We should not fund President Trump’s request for new low-yield nuclear weapons. His proposal dangerously lowers the threshold to nuclear use and siphons money away from genuine military readiness needs,” Smith said in a statement. “Funding new, low-yield weapons would only draw us further into an unnecessary nuclear arms race and increase the risks of miscalculation.”
The bill would prohibit the “research, development, production, and deployment” of the new nuclear weapon. The legislation is also sponsored by Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., John Garamendi, D-Calif., Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.
The Pentagon proposed developing the warhead to fit atop ballistic missiles carried by its submarines as part of its Nuclear Posture Review released this year.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and military planners are worried that Russia is willing to use its own tactical nuclear weapons to win small-scale conflicts quickly, and that increasing the U.S. stockpile will deter such a move.
The military already has an air-launched low-yield nuclear warhead in its arsenal.
