Background
On March 2nd, the Biden Administration transmitted to Congress an Emergency Supplemental Funding Request of roughly $32 billion to cover both response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and additional national needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The portion of the request that would fund our response to Russian aggression clocks in at just under $10 billion.
Interestingly, the Administration request details slightly more of the money responding to the situation in Ukraine going to the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) than to the Department of Defense. It’s close: $5 billion for State and “just” $4.8 billion for the Pentagon. The rest of the money in response to the Russian invasion is spread across the Departments of Commerce, Energy, Justice, and the Treasury.
Department of Defense
Overall, the Pentagon portion of the supplemental appropriations request is $4.8 billion. Because this is all requested as emergency spending, it will be additive to the Pentagon topline in FY2022. (Whatever that is…Omnibus bill anyone?)
The largest portion is $2 billion combined for additional Operations & Maintenance (O&M) funding for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, and Special Operations.
The second largest portion is $1.8 billion to replenish unspecified Department of Defense stocks provided or expected to be provided to the Government of Ukraine. This may include both lethal and non-lethal equipment.
Also included is $409 million for the Working Capital Fund to cover unbudgeted costs of transporting personnel and equipment.
The rest of the total includes $249.3 million in Procurement for the Air Force and Special Forces; $163 million in Personnel costs for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force; and $143.2 million in Research & Development for the Navy, Air Force, and Special Forces.
Wait…say what? Research and Development funding for a contingency operation in Ukraine? We’ve got some questions about this. The fine print says this is for, “artificial intelligence-algorithm development, cybersecurity, and other information technology requirements.” This will bear watching and we’ll keep an eye on it.
Department of State
Overall, $5 billion is requested for the Department of State.
The majority, $2.75 billion, is dedicated to humanitarian assistance and is split between International Disaster Assistance ($2 billion) and Migration & Refugee Assistance ($750 million).
Military assistance through the Department of State is budgeted at $500 million for Foreign Military Financing.
Another $1.75 billion is in Economic Assistance to Ukraine for things like Continuity of Government, emergent needs, and crisis response. As budget watchdogs we consider this language a little loosey-goosey to govern the expenditure of so many of your tax dollars. So, we encourage plenty of robust Congressional oversight of the Economic Assistance account.
Also bearing close oversight, the State Department requests “additional authorities” to waive certain restrictions on how much notice is required before providing Excess Defense Articles and the drawdown authorities under the Foreign Assistance Act. Let’s keep an eye on that.
The rest of the federal agencies requesting emergency appropriations to deal with Russian aggression, and the sanctions in response to that aggression, have fairly small dollar figures in this supplemental request.
Department of Treasury
The total request is $91 million to support the imposition of sanctions against Russian interests. These dollars are spread across:
- Internal Revenue Service criminal investigations
- Salaries and expenses of up to 40 term employees
- Expenses related to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
Department of Justice
The request is $59 million to support:
- Enforcement of sanctions
- Task Force KleptoCapture
- Criminal Division
- Tax Division
- National Security Division
- S. Attorney prosecutions in support of sanctions enforcement
- Asset Forfeiture Fund
Department of Energy
The request of $30 million is entirely to provide technical assistance to Ukraine for electric grid integration.
Department of Commerce
The request of $21 million is to provide additional analysis of:
- Russian economic and trade vulnerabilities
- S. supply chain vulnerabilities
And that’s what we can glean from the Biden Administration’s request to the Congress. There is no doubt that the Russian invasion of one of its neighbors requires an emergency supplemental request to help Ukraine to respond. But, as we point out, oversight is key to making sure this money gets to where it is needed and ultimately supports the defeat of Russian aggression.
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