Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley dispatched a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday demanding the Pentagon release roughly $600 million in security assistance for Ukraine and three Baltic nations, funds Congress appropriated last year but which remain undistributed.
“Ukraine has persistently and bravely repelled a four-year Russian onslaught, but its military needs and deserves continued American support,” the two senators wrote in the joint letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press. The letter calls for the immediate disbursal of $400 million in Ukraine aid and an additional $200 million for defense programs in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
The request reflects intensifying friction between Capitol Hill and the Trump administration, which has slowed arms shipments to Kyiv and opened direct talks with Moscow. Even Republican lawmakers normally aligned with President Donald Trump have grown increasingly vocal about the delayed aid.
During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing the same day, Senator Thom Tillis, R-N.C., pressed Army Secretary nominee General Randy George to account for the holdup.
“You guys need to explain to us and to the American people why this funding isn’t moving,” Tillis said. George replied that he would “look into it.”
The Department of Defense confirmed receipt of the letter. A Pentagon spokesperson said the department would “respond directly to the senators,” but did not provide a timeline for the aid’s release or any explanation for the delay.