WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Republicans in Congress are pressing the Biden administration for answers about the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been hovering over the northern United States for several days.
They took direct aim at President Joe Biden, claiming that the incident demonstrates that the United States’ posture and policies are ineffective in deterring China. Many prominent Republicans agreed that the United States should have shot down the balloon.
Three sources familiar with the situation told NBC News on Friday that staff members for the “Gang of Eight” bipartisan group of leaders on Capitol Hill were given a classified briefing on the balloon Thursday afternoon. One of the eight lawmakers, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, tweeted late Thursday that he was requesting a meeting for the group, but it’s likely that most members of leadership had already left Washington for the weekend.
“China’s flagrant disregard for US sovereignty is a destabilising action that must be addressed, and President Biden cannot remain silent,” McCarthy wrote on Twitter.
According to a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Biden administration will brief the eight senators next week. The New York Democrat is also a Gang of Eight member.
After flying over the Aleutian Islands and through Canada, the high-altitude balloon was spotted over Billings, Montana, on Wednesday. According to Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder, the balloon was flying at an altitude of 60,000 feet — above civilian and military aviation — and was moving eastward across the continental United States. He refused to reveal its precise location.
On Friday, several top Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, urged the Biden administration to deflate the balloon, which some military leaders had discussed. At his briefing on Friday, Ryder stated that the military was still “reviewing options,” but that the balloon had not been deflated because “right now we assess that there is no physical threat or military threat to people on the ground.”
“SHOOT DOWN THE BALLOON!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., one of the most outspoken critics of the Chinese government and US policy toward China, also urged the US government to bring the balloon down.
“President Biden should stop coddling and appeasing China’s communists. Bring the balloon down now and exploit its technology package, which could be a goldmine of intelligence,” Cotton said. “And President Biden and Secretary Austin need to answer if this [balloon] was detected over Alaskan airspace. If that’s the case, why didn’t we bring it down there? Why not, if not? The Chinese Communists’ provocations have, as usual, been met with weakness and hand-wringing.”
“It was a mistake not to shoot down that Chinese spy balloon when it was over a sparsely populated area,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, tweeted. This is not a hot air balloon; it carries a large payload of sensors the size of two city buses and can manoeuvre independently.”
China said on Friday that the balloon was a “civilian airship” that had been blown off course while conducting weather research.
Beijing’s foreign ministry stated on its website, “The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure” — strong winds and a lack of steering ability caused the object to deviate “far from its planned course.”
“We know it’s a surveillance balloon,” Ryder said in response to Beijing’s claims.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., another vocal critic of China, said the balloon should serve as a wake-up call to Biden.
“Xi is openly spying on America because he has no fear or respect for @JoeBiden. “Communist China is our enemy, and Biden needs to wake up and act like it,” he wrote on Twitter.
Montana Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte said in a tweet Thursday that he received an informational briefing about the balloon.
Both Republican Steve Daines and Democrat Jon Tester of Montana expressed concern about the balloon being in their airspace. On Thursday, Daines wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, requesting a “full security briefing from the administration on this situation.” On Friday, Tester described the situation as “completely unacceptable,” vowing to “defend Montana and our national security from hostile adversaries like China.”
When Tester returns to Washington next week, he is expected to receive a classified briefing on the situation, according to his office. Prior to the balloon’s discovery, a classified briefing for all senators focused on China was scheduled for Feb. 15.
The top Democrat and Republican on the House Select Committee on Competition between the United States and China issued a joint statement about the situation, claiming that China has become a domestic threat.
“The Chinese Communist Party should not have access to American airspace on demand,” he said. Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois) stated. “Not only is this a violation of American sovereignty, coming only days before Secretary Blinken’s trip to the PRC, but it also makes clear that the CCP’s recent diplomatic overtures do not represent a substantive change in policy. Indeed, this incident shows that the CCP threat is not limited to distant shores — it is here at home, and we must act to counter it.”
Blinken was supposed to travel to China on Friday evening on a previously scheduled trip, but that has since been cancelled.
Republicans blast Biden, claiming that the suspected Chinese spy balloon demonstrates that the US isn’t deterring Xi.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Republicans in Congress are pressing the Biden administration for answers about the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been hovering over the northern United States for several days.
They took direct aim at President Joe Biden, claiming that the incident demonstrates that the United States’ posture and policies are ineffective in deterring China. Many prominent Republicans agreed that the United States should have shot down the balloon.
Three sources familiar with the situation told NBC News on Friday that staff members for the “Gang of Eight” bipartisan group of leaders on Capitol Hill were given a classified briefing on the balloon Thursday afternoon. One of the eight lawmakers, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, tweeted late Thursday that he was requesting a meeting for the group, but it’s likely that most members of leadership had already left Washington for the weekend.
“China’s flagrant disregard for US sovereignty is a destabilising action that must be addressed, and President Biden cannot remain silent,” McCarthy wrote on Twitter.
According to a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Biden administration will brief the eight senators next week. The New York Democrat is also a Gang of Eight member.
After flying over the Aleutian Islands and through Canada, the high-altitude balloon was spotted over Billings, Montana, on Wednesday. According to Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder, the balloon was flying at an altitude of 60,000 feet — above civilian and military aviation — and was moving eastward across the continental United States. He refused to reveal its precise location.
On Friday, several top Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, urged the Biden administration to deflate the balloon, which some military leaders had discussed. At his briefing on Friday, Ryder stated that the military was still “reviewing options,” but that the balloon had not been deflated because “right now we assess that there is no physical threat or military threat to people on the ground.”
“SHOOT DOWN THE BALLOON!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., one of the most outspoken critics of the Chinese government and US policy toward China, also urged the US government to bring the balloon down.
“President Biden should stop coddling and appeasing China’s communists. Bring the balloon down now and exploit its technology package, which could be a goldmine of intelligence,” Cotton said. “And President Biden and Secretary Austin need to answer if this [balloon] was detected over Alaskan airspace. If that’s the case, why didn’t we bring it down there? Why not, if not? The Chinese Communists’ provocations have, as usual, been met with weakness and hand-wringing.”
“It was a mistake not to shoot down that Chinese spy balloon when it was over a sparsely populated area,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, tweeted. This is not a hot air balloon; it carries a large payload of sensors the size of two city buses and can manoeuvre independently.”
China said on Friday that the balloon was a “civilian airship” that had been blown off course while conducting weather research.
Beijing’s foreign ministry stated on its website, “The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure” — strong winds and a lack of steering ability caused the object to deviate “far from its planned course.”
“We know it’s a surveillance balloon,” Ryder said in response to Beijing’s claims.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., another vocal critic of China, said the balloon should serve as a wake-up call to Biden.
“Xi is openly spying on America because he has no fear or respect for @JoeBiden. “Communist China is our enemy, and Biden needs to wake up and act like it,” he wrote on Twitter.
Montana Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte said in a tweet Thursday that he received an informational briefing about the balloon.
Both Republican Steve Daines and Democrat Jon Tester of Montana expressed concern about the balloon being in their airspace. On Thursday, Daines wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, requesting a “full security briefing from the administration on this situation.” On Friday, Tester described the situation as “completely unacceptable,” vowing to “defend Montana and our national security from hostile adversaries like China.”
When Tester returns to Washington next week, he is expected to receive a classified briefing on the situation, according to his office. Prior to the balloon’s discovery, a classified briefing for all senators focused on China was scheduled for Feb. 15.
The top Democrat and Republican on the House Select Committee on Competition between the United States and China issued a joint statement about the situation, claiming that China has become a domestic threat.
“The Chinese Communist Party should not have access to American airspace on demand,” he said. Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois) stated. “Not only is this a violation of American sovereignty, coming only days before Secretary Blinken’s trip to the PRC, but it also makes clear that the CCP’s recent diplomatic overtures do not represent a substantive change in policy. Indeed, this incident shows that the CCP threat is not limited to distant shores — it is here at home, and we must act to counter it.”
Blinken was supposed to travel to China on Friday evening on a previously scheduled trip, but that has since been cancelled.
