A “complete crosscutting report” showing “U.S. government-wide expenditures for Ukraine and ‘countries touched by the situation in Ukraine’ since February 24, 2022” was requested from the Biden administration by Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Representative Dan Bishop (R-NC) in a letter.
Breitbart News confirmed that 37 senators and members from both parties had signed the letter, more than a week after Fox News published the news. President Joe Biden wrote a letter to OMB Director Shalanda Young on Thursday, requesting that she provide a “complete crosscutting analysis” to Congress, in addition to the first report mandated under the most recent omnibus spending package.
Vance, who has been a senator for less than a month, told Breitbart News that it would be “extremely simple” for the Office of Management and Budget to expand on the report it is now providing so that Congress can see how much money has been spent on Ukraine.
Vance continued by arguing that it was the people of the United States business to know how much was being spent on the government’s operations in eastern Europe. I will not keep quiet about the effort by the Biden administration to suppress this information. In other words, the date you’ve asked for must be observed.
The organization believes that the report, which is due 30 days after the bill went into effect, “does not provide the whole picture of spending on themes such as financial support for the Ukrainian government and economic aid.” Because the overall aid to Ukraine was increased to $114 billion in the massive budget bill, this is the case.
The Republicans provided more information on what was expected of them in their reports, saying:
It is imperative that the report includes not just the remaining budgetary power for this area after all transfers and reprogrammings have been made, but also all obligations, apportions, and expenditures. The report should also include the pledges, allocations, and expenditures the administration wants to undertake in light of the crisis, as well as a breakdown of the countries that the government regards to have been “impacted by the situation in Ukraine.”
The State Department and the USAID inspectors general are still conducting additional ongoing work, and the letter acknowledged that the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General has issued multiple advisories raising questions about the “DOD’s budget execution practices regarding these funds” being sent to Ukraine.
The Republican parliamentarians are waiting for both their desired study and the legally mandated report on Ukraine costs before holding any more votes on these costs.
Ohio Representative Warren Davidson, Pennsylvania Representative Scott Perry, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Texas Representative Troy Nehls, Montana Representative Matt Rosendale, Alabama Representative Barry Moore, South Carolina Representative Jeff Duncan, Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie, Arizona Representative Paul Gosar, Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, and Florida Representative Matt Gaetz (FL).
Former OMB director and current chairman of the Center for Renewing America Russ Vought told Breitbart News that “Congress has paid out over $100 billion to Ukraine without letting the American people know exactly what that money is being spent on.” When Senator Vance questions OMB Director Shalanda Young about funding for Ukraine, he is doing the right thing. The American people have a right to know what is going on in the Biden Administration.
“American taxpayers need a comprehensive plan, accountability, and monitoring of the tens of billions of dollars that the United States has contributed to Ukraine,” Garrett Bess, vice president of Heritage Action, told Breitbart News. Heritage Action is a conservative policy advocacy organization that has been around since 2010.
Bess makes an excellent point when she says that the new law requiring an accounting of all direct military aid to Ukraine does not include an evaluation of the direct economic help received by Ukraine since the beginning of the war. By asking OMB to account for both military and economic aid, as requested by Sen. Vance, senators would have a far fuller picture of how U.S. tax money has been spent in Ukraine, allowing them to make better judgments as the situation develops.