Critical op-eds by Daniel Drezner and a number of others underline how Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby is unpopular with some United States allies and congressional Republicans. Allies are frustrated by Colby’s brusque emphasis on the need for their significantly increased defense spending. Republican detractors such as Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) say Colby jeopardizes U.S. global leadership by neglecting threats in Europe and the Middle East. The anti-Colby agenda was most recently evidenced amid the controversy of suspended U.S. air defense munition supplies to Ukraine. This suspension, now ended, was blamed on Colby even though he only wrote a memo on shortages of U.S. air defense munitions more generally.

Fiery criticism of the Pentagon’s No. 3 ranking official is hardly new. Colby’s nomination as undersecretary was imperiled by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and certain pro-Israel groups over Colby’s prior skepticism of U.S. military deployments relating to Iran. Today, the main line of attack leveled against Colby is that he strengthens Russia by fixating on China’s threat in the Pacific.