Rogers: Feinstein Call for Nuclear Cuts ‘Shows Disregard for Reality’

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) fired back against a call from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) for more cuts to the nation’s nuclear stockpile, writing in a Washington Post letter to the editor that Feinstein’s stance “shows a disregard for reality.” In a Dec. 3 Washington Post op-ed, Feinstein called the level of spending on nuclear weapons “unnecessary and unsustainable” and urged a reduction to the hedge weapons in the stockpile in an effort to save money. Rogers, the chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, said Feinstein’s position runs counter to statements by the Obama Administration, noting that spending on nuclear weapons represent about 4 percent of defense spending. “As Russia continues to violate the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, station nuclear weapons in territory stolen from Ukraine and rattle nuclear sabers at NATO, Ms. Feinstein’s call for unilateral U.S. disarmament defies common sense,” Rogers said. “Nuclear weapons are not undermining other national security priorities—they are undergirding them.”