WATCH: Rep. Sherrill Slams Hegseth’s Unilateral Freezes on Ukraine Aid, Backs Amendment to Prevent Future Delays

WASHINGTON, DC — As Secretary Hegseth’s reckless mismanagement of the Pentagon continues to endanger American allies and undermine global stability, Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) is standing in the breach. During the House Armed Services Committee’s markup of the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Sherrill argued in support of an amendment that would prohibit the Department of Defense from halting aid to Ukraine without explicit approval from the President.

The amendment comes in response to two known incidents in which Secretary Hegseth froze critical military assistance to Ukraine — without any directive from President Trump or coordination with national security officials. These freezes, both later reversed by the White House, caused serious delays in weapons and support bound for Ukrainian forces defending against Russian aggression.

Click here to watch Sherrill’s full remarks.

Full remarks, as delivered:

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I want to express my strong support for Rep. Moulton’s amendment today.

The Pentagon has frozen the delivery of aid to Ukraine three times since President Trump’s inauguration. Two of those times, Secretary Hegseth froze the aid without even gaining the approval of President Trump.

According to news reports, the first time Secretary Hegseth froze the aid was less than two weeks into the Trump administration when he apparently misunderstood President Trump’s directions in a National Security Council meeting and believed that DoD was supposed to halt all delivery of aid to Ukraine.

While this decision was reversed by the White House only a few days later, Secretary Hegseth’s poor decision cost millions of taxpayer dollars and delayed the delivery of vital aid.

Last month, I asked Secretary Hegseth about this early freeze in aid to Ukraine when he testified before this committee. Secretary Hegseth unsurprisingly refused to provide an actual response to my questions about why he ordered that first freeze to aid.

Then just a few weeks ago, we learned again that he ordered the freeze of vital military assistance to Ukraine. Again he apparently didn’t coordinate with the White House or State Department before making his order. And once again Secretary Hegseth’s decision was overruled by President Trump.

His poor judgement and mismanagement of the Pentagon has twice now led to the freeze of military assistance to Ukraine. This committee needs to make sure that these deadly pauses don’t happen again.

President Trump himself has apparently come around to the idea and announced that he would once again be sending significant defense equipment to Ukraine. After serving at CINCUSNAVEUR and as a Russian policy officer in the Navy, I know first hand how dangerous a threat Vladimir Putin is to Ukraine, Europe and the US. Ukrainian soldiers fighting and dying on the front lines against Russia don’t have time to wait for the delivery of artillery and munitions. They need that aid today.

Thank you and I yield back.”

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