Reps. James Comer (R-Kentucky), Victoria Spartz (R-Indiana) and other House Republicans on the Oversight Committee are asking Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) to conduct a hearing to oversee and evaluate the federal government’s effectiveness in distribution of U.S. taxpayer aid to Ukraine.
Comer is the lead Republican on the committee.
The Republicans have requested the following people be called to testify:
- State Dept. Secretary Antony Blinken
- U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power
- Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin
- Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young
In any crisis the speed and scale of response and proper implementation are critical to success. Congress must exercise its oversight responsibility more effectively and demand timely accountability from the Executive Branch.”
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Indiana)
Congress approved an emergency military and humanitarian aid package totaling $13.6 billion in response to the Russian invasion and subsequent war in Ukraine.
The aid package provides:
- $6.9 billion for traditional foreign aid, including humanitarian assistance
- $3.5 billion for military supplies
- $3 billion for U.S. deployment and intelligence programs
- $175.5 million for enforcing sanctions and other aid, including investigating cyber threats
As Russia continues to attack Ukrainian infrastructure like roads and rails, authorities say there are significant challenges to delivering the aid.
The House Oversight and Reform Committee has a duty to ensure the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars sent to help Ukraine are spent effectively, efficiently, and transparently.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to wage war against the sovereign nation of Ukraine, we must ensure bureaucratic red tape does not slow down this crucial aid or fall into the wrong hands.
Chairwoman Maloney must immediately convene a hearing with top Biden Administration officials to ensure taxpayer dollars allocated for Ukraine’s military and citizens are not wasted, abused, or mismanaged.”
Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky) House Oversight Committee
The letter to Chairwoman Maloney can be found here.
Leaving aside the questions of whether aid to Ukraine prolongs the conflict and increases the distress on the Ukrainian people, and also sidestepping the questions of whether the US government has been motivated by integrity or varied special interests in pursuing the current strategy towards Russia and in helping arm and assist Ukrainians in fighting “Russia over there so we don’t have to fight Russia over here” — as one elected US guy said… Let’s give some thought to the value of all this aid to Ukraine from a purely military perspective.
If one listens to military strategists like Col Douglas MacGregor or Scott Ritter, we get the impression that Russia’s operation is going according to plan. They claim Ukraine has an army including reservists of about 600,000 while Russia entered Ukraine with less than 200,000. Russia was assisted by troops from the breakaway Republics though.
In any case, independent media sources (the kind that are tending to get blocked in the US) show that Russia lately has been bombing a lot of the oil depots of Ukraine. This will diminish the maneuverability of Ukrainian forces and may give Russia an advantage if the military situation changes.
I’ve got to leave. But people can follow the experts mentioned if they want another take than the mainstream US narrative. Much of the media is in the same mode that they were in when Trump and Clinton were running for President. If people try too hard to boost one side, they will only end up deceiving themselves.