60 Minutes discussed this too:
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/21/top-republican-blocks-bidens-aukus-pact...Top Republican blocks Biden’s nuclear submarine pact in bid for more defense dollars.
Wicker, despite the fact that he supports AUKUS, blocked a plan to fast-track Congress’s authorization to sell Australia three Virginia-class attack subs, a major pillar of the multinational agreement announced this year. He’s arguing that for U.S. submarine manufacturers to be able to boost production enough to supply both the U.S. Navy and Australia, the industry needs more investment from the federal government.
“It makes sense to be sure we have enough submarines for our own security needs before we endorse that pillar of the [AUKUS] agreement,” Wicker, the Senate Armed Services Committee’s ranking member, said in a brief interview. “The president needs to submit a supplemental request to give us an adequate number of submarines.”
https://antinuclear.net/2023/07/23/2-b1-us-republicans-threaten-to-block-aukus-d...Australia’s AUKUS submarine deal with the United States has hit a hurdle with Senate Republicans threatening to block the sale
unless President Joe Biden boosts funding for the domestic production line.
Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Friday moved to block legislation which would enable the sale of US Virginia-class submarines to Australia.
Under the AUKUS deal, Washington was set to sell Canberra between three and five of its own nuclear submarines in the 2030s before Australia begins building a new class of boat with Britain.
But the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, senator Roger Wicker, said Biden needed to commit more money to guarantee “we have enough submarines for our own security before we endorse that pillar of the agreement”.
Wicker said Australia’s commitment of US$3 billion ($4.4 billion) for the US production line would not be enough to meet the needs of both countries.
“The president needs to submit a supplemental request to give us an adequate number of submarines,” he told US news outlet