In a letter Thursday to President Barack Obama, 29 Republican senators argued against enactment of a “no first use” policy for the U.S. nuclear deterrent.
“While no American wishes to employ nuclear weapons in conflict, establishing a no first use policy would weaken the nation’s security and make the world less safe by crippling America’s nuclear deterrence posture—a stabilizing agent for the cause of peace across decades—and further incentivize allies and enemies alike to develop nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them,” the letter states.
Reports in recent months indicated Obama was considering reversing national policy that allows for first use of nuclear weapons against a foe under some circumstances during conflict. The president has been reported to be looking for avenues to strengthen his nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament legacy in the waning months of his tenure.
However, top Secretary of State John Kerry and other top members of the president’s Cabinet, along with key allies including Japan and South Korea, were said to have advised against such a move, and The New York Times reported earlier this month that Obama had apparently decided against no first use.
Democrats in both houses of Congress, along with the arms control community, had urged Obama to implement a no-first-use nuclear strategy.
Signatories to this week’s GOP letter were Sens. Steve Daines (Mont.) Tom Cotton (Ark.), Orrin Hatch (Utah), Jim Inhofe (Okla.), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Ben Sasse (Neb.), Pat Roberts (Kan.), Joni Ernst (Iowa), Dan Coats (Ind.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), John Barrasso (Wyo.), Jeff Sessions (Ala.), Mike Rounds (S.D.), Roy Blunt (Mo.), Richard Shelby (Ala.), Ted Cruz (Texas, John Boozman (Ark.), David Vitter (la.), Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Tim Scott (S.C.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Jim Risch (Idaho), John Cornyn (Texas), David Perdue (Ga.), John Thune (S.D.), John McCain (Ariz.), John Hoeven (N.D.), Mike Enzi (Wyo.), Mark Kirk (Ill.), and Bill Cassidy (La.).
