SASC seapower chair Kaine: ‘All systems go’ to support Marines' 31 amphibs - Breaking Defense

The new head of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s seapower subcommittee today made clear he expects his committee to support the Marines reaching 31 amphibious warships.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., also stated that he has yet to hear any real defense of the decision not to buy more amphibs in the Pentagon’s fiscal 2024 budget request, and indicated it is his belief that the controversial decision came from the Office of the Secretary of Defense and not from Navy leadership.

“I don’t want to speak for people other than me, but I can read the room. I think the discussions have convinced the significant majority of the committee [that 31 amphibs are] the number, and unless or until somebody gives us a compelling reason to suggest that that’s not the case, or a compelling reason suggests that we need to pause and study this yet again, I think we’re on for 31,” Kaine told reporters in a briefing today.