News: Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to reassure Senate Republicans last week that the AUKUS security pact will survive an ongoing Pentagon review, telling GOP senators during a closed-door lunch meeting that the partnership will emerge “stronger.”
Rubio’s comments, described to Punchbowl News by two senators who attended the meeting last Tuesday, come as Republicans have publicly and privately raised alarms about what the DoD review could mean for the pact.
AUKUS is a trilateral security agreement with Australia and the United Kingdom that focuses on the Indo-Pacific and countering China, most notably through the production of submarines. Inked in 2021, AUKUS has enjoyed strong bipartisan backing on the Hill. Republicans often note that it’s one of the few Biden administration foreign policy initiatives they supported.
Inside the room. Rubio, who also serves as Trump’s national security adviser, downplayed the administration’s review of AUKUS during the Tuesday meeting with his former colleagues.
He said the official leading the process — Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s No. 3 official and policy chief — “just likes to review things.”
Colby is close with Vice President JD Vance and has been panned as an “isolationist” by GOP hawks because of his view that the United States should shift resources away from Europe to prioritize the Indo-Pacific.
Colby said last year he was “skeptical” of AUKUS. That has contributed to Hill Republicans’ anxiety about the Pentagon review.
Bipartisan buy-in. Senators, as recently as Thursday night, affirmed their support for the pact when they adopted an NDAA amendment intended to streamline co-production of Virginia-class submarines under the deal. The provision, from Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), was included in a package of amendments that was adopted via voice vote.
The Pentagon has spent months reviewing AUKUS. John Noh, who was tapped to serve as assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, signaled the pact could see changes as a result of that work.
“There are things that I believe are common-sense things that we can do to strengthen AUKUS, to strengthen Pillar I, to ensure that it is more sustainable,” Noh said during his confirmation hearing last week.
Pillar I of the plan is focused on the buildup of Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine fleet. As part of that phase, the United States will sell Canberra at least three Virginia-class attack subs.
Noh, who currently serves as the deputy assistant defense secretary for East Asia, added the review should be wrapped up “by this fall.”
AUKUS is perhaps best known for the planned future-year transfer of submarines to Australia. But the most immediate action under the deal will come from joint technology development under what’s known as Pillar II.
Defense leaders have discussed broadening participation in those projects to include other countries, such as Canada and Japan. But any expansion would likely require congressional signoff because of restrictive U.S. export controls that limit the sharing of sensitive technologies with foreign nations.
Those conversations have largely been sidelined amid the Pentagon’s review of AUKUS.
