Commenting on that ongoing review of the nation’s strategic deployed stockpile, Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Jim Miller said yesterday that while current levels would be the default option, he may support reducing the number of deployed weapons. “I do believe that there are steps we could take to further strengthen our deterrence posture and our assurance of allies and I believe that we can do so at lower numbers,” Miller said in opening remarks at the Nuclear Deterrence Summit. Miller was responding to a question about an Associated Press report from earlier this week that the Administration is examining options to bring the size of the stockpile down to between 1,000-1,100, 700-800, or 300-400, far below the cap of 1,500 mandated by the New START treaty. “I will not speak to the press reports about specific numbers, but I will say that today’s posture and New START force levels represent one option. The status quo is the default option and we will see if we can shift from that in a way that will strengthen deterrence, strengthen stability and strengthen assurance at lower numbers,” Miller said.
While the Pentagon has not yet completed its review or made recommendations, some lawmakers balked at the reports of potential large reductions to the stockpile. At a House Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday, Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) called the idea of major reductions “reckless lunacy.” He added that “there are many of us that are going to do everything we possibly can to make sure that this preposterous notion does not gain any real traction.” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey did not confirm the reports in his remarks the hearing, only noting that “the status quo, by the way, is always an option and one that is in play.”