Taiwan Legislative Yuan Finance Committee Hearings Scheduled; Defense Minister: Article 84 Invoked if May 31 HIMARS Deadline Missed; 10 Days Remain

Following the Cabinet's May 20 approval of the NT$295 billion special procurement budget, Taiwan's Legislative Yuan Finance Committee convened planning sessions on May 21 for hearings scheduled the following Monday, with a floor vote expected Wednesday-Thursday. The critical constraint is the May 31 HIMARS payment deadline — 10 days away — after which the Foreign Military Sale procurement case would be automatically canceled under US law and would require a restart from scratch, adding approximately 12-18 months to the delivery timeline for the remaining 18 HIMARS launchers and munitions. Taiwan's Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo publicly confirmed on May 21 that if the Legislative Yuan fails to approve the budget before May 31, the Executive Yuan would invoke Article 84 of the Budget Act to authorize emergency executive payment, bypassing standard legislative appropriations procedures. The Article 84 pathway has legal precedent in Taiwan but is politically contentious, particularly given the KMT-TPP legislative majority that has sought to constrain the Lai administration's defense spending ambitions. The NT$295B package (HIMARS, M109A7, Javelin, TOW 2B, anti-armor drone missiles) aligns with Phase 1 of the NT$780B special defense budget passed by the Legislative Yuan on May 8. Separately, the question of whether the US will approve Taiwan's remaining defense procurements — including the Trump-suspended $14B PAC-3/NASAMS package — remains unresolved following the Trump-Xi Beijing summit (May 14-15). USTR Greer's contradictory 'no change in American policy' statement and the PORCUPINE Act's 45-0 House Foreign Affairs Committee vote provide partial legislative continuity beneath the executive-level ambiguity.