Politico provided an initial round of objections, on July 7, to President Biden’s decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), the ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, said: “The decision by the Biden administration to transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine is unnecessary and a terrible mistake. The legacy of cluster bombs is misery, death and expensive cleanup generations after their use.” She added that “These weapons should be eliminated from our stockpiles, not dumped in Ukraine.” Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), the ranking member of the House panel that funds the State Department, tweeted that she was “alarmed” at the move.
Progressives, some of whom called in a letter last year for the administration to ban the use of cluster munitions by the U.S. military, have been lobbying the administration to refrain from this move for months. A House Democratic aide said he pointed to that letter multiple times with State Department officials over recent months, to wave the administration off when it seemed to be mulling cluster bombs for Ukraine. “There are a number of progressives who are really hacked off. We thought the communication was clear,” said the aide, who was granted anonymity to discuss tensions with the executive branch. “They can’t say we weren’t emoting clear signals that this was a momentous step. A 6-year-old doesn’t step on an F-16 and lose their leg.”
