Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) penned a letter to the pinnacle of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Friday demanding an investigation into what he calls the Biden administration’s “baffling response” to a Chinese surveillance balloon floating over the US.
Hawley called reports that the spy balloon is surveilling US nuclear capabilities “troubling” and a “gross violation of US airspace,” in his letter to Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and he blasted President Biden’s handling of the situation.
“As Members of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), now we have an obligation to acquire a full understanding of the surveillance that the Chinese government is currently conducting in gross violation of U.S. airspace and to know the Biden Administration’s baffling response to this point,” Hawley said within the letter.
“Slightly than shooting down or otherwise disabling this high-altitude balloon, the Biden Administration is merely ‘monitoring the situation’ and referring reporters to the Chinese government for answers,” he added.
“This can be a gross violation of American sovereignty. China’s foray into America’s sovereign airspace is deeply disturbing and calls for an instantaneous investigation. This can be a matter of homeland security, and we should always hear from senior members of the Biden Administration to know their response, or lack thereof, up to now. The American persons are demanding answers,” the Missouri Republican’s letter concludes.
The 80-year-old president said nothing Friday in regards to the Chinese spy balloon during remarks to Democratic National Committee members in Philadelphia, and he ignored reporter questions on the balloon on the White House and while en path to the event.
Biden, whose family has had extensive business relations with Chinese government-linked entities, has not made any public comments in regards to the balloon launched by Beijing because the Pentagon revealed Thursday that it had intruded into US airspace.
Several Republican lawmakers, including Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Reps. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga,), have called on Biden to blast the balloon out of the sky.
Potential 2024 presidential challengers to Biden, akin to former Vice President Mike Pence, former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have also demanded that Biden shoot it down.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday that the commander-in-chief decided to not accomplish that after the Defense Department warned of possible civilian casualties.
