Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), just back to the Senate after a 92-day absence, is leading a Republican push for President Donald Trump's administration to release $1.3 billion in stalled military aid to Taiwan.
The 84-year-old McConnell and three GOP colleagues, Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), sent a letter Wednesday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asking why the State Department hasn't released $300 million in foreign military financing that Congress set aside for Taiwan in the 2026 budget, reported The Washington Sun.
The Republicans also asked why the Pentagon hasn't released another $1 billion through the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, and they challenged the administration's freeze on a $14 billion arms package.
"We are concerned by President Trump's description of Taiwan as 'a very good negotiating chip' in engagements with Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party," the senators wrote.
The letter comes one day before Trump hosts Xi at the White House. Reuters reported that the Chinese leader is expected to push for limits on U.S. arms sales to the island. In May, Trump said he was holding the weapons package "in abeyance," calling it "a very good negotiating chip for us."
The Taiwan financing expires Sept. 30, and the State Department missed a Sept. 15 deadline to notify Congress under the normal process, a congressional aide told the Sun. Jordan, Israel, Thailand and the Philippines have already been approved for funds from the same budget – Taiwan has not.
Other Republicans are also urging Trump to hold firm. Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-MS) criticized Trump's lavish reception for Xi in a floor speech Tuesday, saying the president should keep in mind that his guest is "a brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors."
Michael Pillsbury, who has advised Trump on China, said Chinese officials see Trump as more flexible on Taiwan than Joe Biden was. "Taiwan leadership is quite worried," Pillsbury said.
The freeze could also undercut Trump's own demand that Taiwan raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2030.
Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council, said Taipei budgeted for the weapons based on U.S. assurances. Money it doesn't spend goes back to its treasury at the end of the year. "It's lost money," he said.
McConnell, the longtime Senate majority leader who is retiring when his term ends in January, was first hospitalized June 14, two days after his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, arrived in China for a preplanned trip.
He remained hospitalized for several weeks, and his long-term absence and a lack of clarity about his health prompted months of speculation until he returned, looking frail, to vote in the Senate last week.