Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) took to the Senate floor ahead of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday to criticize the Biden administration’s response to the suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew over sensitive military sites last week.
The Biden administration shot down the balloon Saturday after it drifted across U.S. airspace for days. President Joe Biden said he asked the Pentagon to take it down earlier in the week, but defense officials voiced safety concerns.
SCHUMER SCOLDS REPUBLICANS FOR OUTCRY OVER SUSPECTED CHINESE SPY BALLOON
“Over the last several days, the country learned that on President Biden’s watch, the state of our union is apparently under Chinese surveillance from our own skies,” McConnell said in a Tuesday speech. “It’s ludicrous to suggest that Canada and the United States had no choice but to let this thing traipse across the continent from coast to coast.”
McConnell slammed the Biden administration’s past military budget requests and warned of looming problems with China.
“This president’s last budget request tried to cut funding for our military after inflation while Beijing keeps investing in their own capabilities,” McConnell said.
Earlier this week, the Kentucky senator said he hoped the administration’s budget proposal this year is more “decisive, serious and strong than the embarrassment that just played out in our skies.”
Democrats have been quick to defend the Biden administration’s actions. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) praised the administration’s response to the Chinese balloon as “calm, calculated, and effective” at a press conference on Tuesday.
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“They listened to the military experts, they listened to the intelligence experts, and they did the right thing,” Schumer said. “Having them come down over water is a huge, huge advantage instead of having them come down over land. Because over water, much of the surveillance balloon’s stuff can be recovered. So, we’re going to know what it is. And we’re also going to know what they’ve sought.”
All senators will receive an intelligence briefing from Biden administration officials on Thursday instead of holding the briefing on Feb. 15 as originally scheduled.
