U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth criticized the administration of former President Joe Biden, arguing that American ammunition stockpiles were used to support Ukraine but were not replenished in time due to slow-moving bureaucratic processes, while broader global threats were overlooked.
Speaking before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Hegseth criticized the Biden administration’s military assistance to Ukraine, stating that Washington’s ammunition shipments to Kyiv left the United States unable to adequately maintain its own reserves. The Pentagon chief emphasized that depleted stockpiles were not replenished in a timely manner.
Highlighting the negative impact of bureaucratic obstacles on national security, Hegseth said:
“The five supplemental funding packages approved by this committee were designed to send ammunition to Ukraine from U.S. stockpiles and then replenish those stocks on a one-for-one basis. However, because that replenishment was handled through a slow and cumbersome bureaucratic process, the weapons that were sent were not replaced in a timely manner. Meanwhile, other threats around the world were unfortunately overlooked.”
Hegseth argued that the delays stemmed from administrative shortcomings and asserted that, during the Biden administration, the Department of Defense’s budget and the needs of the U.S. military were never treated as top priorities.