Eric Gomez, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, has suggested that the United States should use Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) to more effectively aid Taiwan by transferring existing U.S. military stockpiles. Gomez published a commentary titled "The Taiwan Aid Bill Won’t Fix the Arms Backlog" for the Cato Institute in June.
"Instead of viewing Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) transfers as a tool for reducing the backlog, policymakers should see them as an instrument for building up stockpiles of munitions and pushing Taiwan toward a more effective and sustainable defense strategy," said Gomez. "Presidential drawdown authority could be a good Band‐Aid for getting weapons to Taiwan, but fixing the long wait times that Taipei faces will require other solutions."
In April, President Biden signed a $95 billion supplemental security bill, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. "It gives vital support to America's partners so they can defend themselves against threats to their sovereignty and the lives and freedom of their citizens," Biden said. The package provides $9.5 billion for humanitarian aid to conflict zones including Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine, and supports Indo-Pacific partners and Haiti.
According to Gomez at the Cato Institute, Taiwan experiences extended backlogs waiting for military aid more than other foreign nations receiving aid from the U.S. Taiwan received AGM-154C joint standoff weapons in February 2024 that Congress notified of sale in June 2017. The Department of Defense names "Davidson Window" as the amount of time when and if China's military will be ready to attack Taiwan. Delays in arms sales to Taiwan could become critical as the DOD anticipates China may be ready to attack Taiwan by 2027. A $2.4 billion arms sale notified to Congress in October 2020 for Harpoon launchers and missiles will not be fully delivered until 2030, past the anticipated threat window.
Gomez said the U.S. should lean towards using Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), "which allows Washington to take weapons out of its own military stockpiles and immediately transfer them to a foreign country." PDA transfers from existing stockpiles without having to wait for a manufacturing timetable. In 2022, Congress amended the Foreign Assistance Act "to authorize $1 billion per fiscal year for PDA transfers to Taiwan, and the supplemental legislation passed in April allocates $1.9 billion for the Defense Department to replenish any stockpiles of weapons that it sends to Taiwan through PDA for fiscal 2024 and 2025," which is a start, according to Gomez.
The Cato Institute is a policy think tank based in Washington D.C., according to its website.
