US Republicans call for scrutiny of aid to Ukraine
A group of congressional Republicans introduced a resolution on Thursday calling for an audit of US government funds appropriated for aid to Ukraine.
The initiative, spearheaded by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and backed by ten fellow legislators, covers all military, civilian, and financial support provided to Kiev by President Joe Biden, according to the Daily Caller.
“The American people, the taxpayers of this country, deserve to know where their money is going and how it’s being spent,” Greene told reporters, adding that the government should be held accountable when spending money overseas. “We must audit every American taxpayer dollar sent to Ukraine.”
The US has been supplying Ukraine with heavy armaments, such as anti-tank weapons, missile defense systems, and drones after Russia launched its military operation in the neighboring state. Biden asked Congress to approve an additional $37.7 billion in security assistance to Kiev on Tuesday, which would bring the total funds appropriated to Ukraine in less than a year to $104 billion, according to Defense News.
Greene and her colleagues argued that the funding scheme is not transparent enough and that there are more pressing matters at home. “Our Border Patrol asked for $15.46 billion to secure the border of the United States. President Trump’s border wall would’ve only cost $22 billion,” the congresswoman said.
“With the money we’ve sent to Ukraine, we could’ve already secured our border but we’re not doing that.” She added that Congress would send “a very bad message to the American people” if the audit is denied.
Greene also posted a video on Twitter of two men in military uniform walking with crutches, writing: “It is heartbreaking to see these disabled Ukrainian soldiers here in the halls of Congress being used as pawns to pressure our Congress to give American’s hard earned tax dollars to [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky.”
Some Republicans were increasingly calling for more oversight during the midterm elections, which ended with the party winning a slim majority in the House of Representatives but failing to retake the Senate from the Democrats. Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in the House, said last month that Kiev would no longer receive “blank checks” if the party secured control of the chamber.
The former speaker of the House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, said that the US will continue to support Kiev. “We have never given a blank check to Ukraine,” she said during a visit to Croatia last month.
