'Enough is enough': Members of Congress ask to stop sending funds to Ukraine

Six senators and around twenty representatives ask the White House to clarify how much money has actually been provided so far and refuse to add $24 billion to the $113,000 officially invested so far.

Joe y Jill Biden reciben a Volodomir Zelensky y a su esposa en la entrada de la Casa Blanca. — Cordon press.

Published by

Israel Duro

22 de septiembre, 2023

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"Enough is enough," say Congressional Republicans, claiming that funneling aid to Ukraine is a bottomless pit for taxpayer money. Led by Senator J.D. Vance and the representative Chip Roy, a group of 29 conservative legislators from both chambers sent a letter to the White House which criticizes the opaque management of these funds by the Biden administration. They claim that the actual amount far exceeds the $113 billion that was officially approved and expressed their refusal to send the additional $24 billion requested by Volodymyr Zelensky. According to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the U.S. would need another $100 billion to fund this war in the next 24 months.

Republicans ask the White House where the money has really gone

In the letter addressed to Shalanda Young, the director of the U.S. office of management and budget, the six senators and 23 representatives demand that the Biden administration provide greater clarity on how much money has actually been invested and where it has gone. The letter references, for example, that the $6.2 billion that the Department of Defense sent by mistake that was not included in the money delivered to Ukraine. In addition, they ask some questions to the president that require answers:

The American people deserve to know what their money has gone to. How is the counteroffensive going? Are the Ukrainians any closer to victory than they were 6 months ago? What is our strategy, and what is the president’s exit plan? What does the administration define as victory in Ukraine? What assistance has the United States provided Ukraine under Title 10? It would be an absurd abdication of congressional responsibility to grant this request without knowing the answers to these questions. For these reasons—and certainly until we receive answers to the questions above and others forthcoming — we oppose the additional expenditure for war in Ukraine included in your request.

In the letter, the legislators point to irregularities in the administration's management of the budget approved to be sent to the European country.

Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the United States has appropriated $114 billion in supplemental funding for Ukraine and “countries impacted by the situation in Ukraine.” However, this amount does not reflect the full picture, which includes transferred and reprogrammed funds. The administration has requested additional authority to transfer and reprogram funds in all five of its supplemental requests. The vast majority of Congress remains unaware of how much the United States has spent to date in total on this conflict, information which is necessary for Congress to prudently exercise its appropriations power. It is difficult to envision a benign explanation for this lack of clarity.

Fear of financing the conflict indefinitely

The members of Congress express their fear that the U.S. government's intention is to finance an indefinite conflict without a clear strategy or specific deadlines, following Biden's statement that "we will support Ukraine in the defense of its sovereignty for as long as necessary."

Several of the signatories echoed these concerns on social media. Vance said that "enough is enough." Senator Roger Marshall announced that he would not even attend the Ukrainian president's address.