Bipartisan Leaders Send Letter to Secretary Hegseth Expressing Strong Support for AUKUS Amid Review
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT), Ranking Member of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Chair Emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Trent Kelly (R-MS), Chairman of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, sent a bipartisan letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth expressing their strong support for the AUKUS agreement. Rep. Courtney and Rep. McCaul serve as Co-Chairs of the bipartisan Friends of Australia Caucus.
Full Letter Text
Dear Secretary Hegseth:
As the Department of Defense begins its 30-day review of the trilateral AUKUS mission, we write to you to express our strongest support for the agreement and to thank you for your commitment to consult with us on the Department’s review of this critical mission.
As with any new administration, we respect the Department’s right to review the plan. As noted in the recent U.K. government’s defense review, determined, this is a defense alliance that is overwhelmingly in the best interest of all three AUKUS nations, as well as the entire Indo-Pacific region. Indeed, as you noted in February when Australia provided the U.S. with a $500 million AUKUS payment, “this is not a mission, in the Indo-Pacific, that America can undertake by itself. It has to be [done by] robust allies and partners. Technology sharing and subs are a huge part of it.”
We strongly agree with those remarks. Since AUKUS was announced, support among Congress – and partners in all three nations – has grown immensely and we have worked quickly to recognize AUKUS’ mission to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.
In 2022, Congress authorized the Royal Australian Navy to begin joint training with the U.S. Navy to skill up officers and sailors on nuclear propulsion and operation of attack submarines. In 2023, after the release of the AUKUS “Optimal Pathway” plan, Congress’s to-do list grew significantly. Remarkably, despite the sprawling size of the legislative agenda required that was spread across multiple committee jurisdictions, the House and Senate found a way to pass a landmark legislative package that cleared the way to execute the Optimal Pathway in just six months. The legislation – which passed with 310 votes in the House – authorized the sale of Virginia class submarines to Australia, allowed the U.S. to accept Australia’s $3 billion investment into our submarine industrial base, train Australians in submarine maintenance, and streamline technology and information sharing. Then, in December 2024, Congress delivered nearly $6 billion to the Virginia-class submarine program – a significant infusion of funding to keep the construction tempo rising and invest in the shipbuilding workforce.
The results of our efforts are advancing AUKUS in real time. Over 120 sailors and officers are currently completing joint nuclear submarine training. Australian sailors and operators are joint-crewing U.S. Virginia class submarines. Joint U.S.-Australian submarine repair work is happening in Guam and Hawaii. Pillar 2 cut through red tape and lowered barriers for development cooperation between the three nations, resulting in that sharing of capabilities such as the MQ-28 Ghost Bat, P-8 Sonobuoy, among other classified programs.
The U.S. submarine industrial base is also rebounding from the nationwide manufacturing slowdown caused by COVID-19 and steadily increasing its construction pace. Shipbuilders delivered two attack submarines in 2024 (USS New Jersey and USS Iowa), with two more slated for delivery in 2025 (USS Massachusetts and USS Idaho), and another two in 2026 (USS Arkansas and USS Utah). With a record $10 billion investment in the submarine industrial base from Congress since 2018—with continued significant investment by the Navy in the fiscal year 2026 budget request—and an additional $3 billion from Australia, we are confident in our ability to meet both U.S. fleet requirements and our AUKUS commitments.
Further, it is important to note that the “Optimal Pathway” plan – agreed upon by the three nations – calls for sale of three Virginia-class submarines in 2032, 2035, and 2038, subject to certification of a then-sitting President to ensure that such a sale would “not degrade the United States undersea capabilities.” Additional shipyards in Alabama, Pennsylvania, Florida, and South Carolina have ramped up steel fabrication within the last few years, driving the growth in manhours and tonnage output. As the attached chart indicates, this nationwide investment has resulted in real growth over the last few years. This national effort and broadening of shipyard capacity is the goal that Congress intended to achieve at the same time the AUKUS Submarine Transfer Authorization Act (22 USC Chapter 111, Subchapter III) was enacted. We believe this significant expansion in the industrial base puts on the path to ensuring we will have sufficient U.S. submarine capabilities in 2032, 2035, and 2038 to allow for the agreed upon sales.
Thank you again for your recent commitment before the House Committee on Armed Services to involve Congress in this 30-day review. Given our instrumental role in executing the AUKUS mission and enabling legislation, we look forward to discussing with you the scope, objectives, and timeline of this review.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Background
This month, the Department of Defense launched a 30-day review of the AUKUS mission, to be led by Undersecretary of the Defense Elbridge Colby. Following the announcement, during a House Armed Services Committee hearing, Secretary Hegseth committed to involving Congress in the 30-day AUKUS review.
Also this month, the House Appropriations Committee expressed strong support for international initiatives and specifically AUKUS during its markup of the fiscal year 2026 defense bill and requested a report from the Secretary of Defense on the progress of Pillar 2 technology efforts relating undersea capabilities, quantum technologies, and other efforts.
Take a look back at key AUKUS milestones achieved in 2024.