Our Take

Ukraine Spending Oversight

Budget & Tax, National Security, | Our Take

Mar 1, 2023 | 4 min read | Print Article

We’re pleased to see Congressional oversight hearings on the more than $113 billion in U.S. taxpayer dollars appropriated to help Ukraine beat back Russian territorial aggression. This spending is important to the safety and security of Ukraine and other nations, many of whom are our NATO allies (who are also contributing).

But, just as important as supporting Ukraine with dollars, is making sure this money is getting to where it’s needed most. We’ve been calling for oversight from the very beginning, including pulling together a variety of outside groups asking Congress to exercise its oversight role. Ukraine is, literally, a country under daily siege. The normal functions of government are strained, and outside oversight is necessary to ensure U.S. assistance is spent as intended. Besides, the country’s GDP in 2021 (before the war) was $200 billion– the extra U.S. cash plus our allies is a big slug of funding.

In January three Inspectors General for federal agencies (Defense, State, and the U.S. Agency for International Development) released their Joint Strategic Oversight Plan for Ukraine Response. The plan lays out the interagency and intergovernmental blueprint for investigating criminal activity such as fraud schemes to divert aid funds from their intended recipients. The report outlines 18 ongoing and planned oversight projects including several different audits of the execution of funds provided to various Ukrainian agencies. This important work is just beginning and should be used to inform both Congressional oversight hearings and the approval of any further requests.

These three Inspectors General are taking the lead because their agency budgets received the appropriations that will eventually be spent in or on Ukraine.

In four separate appropriations acts, Public Law 117-103, Public Law 117-128, Public Law 117-180, and Public Law 117-328, Congress directed the following spending for Ukraine (for a breakdown by appropriations bill, click here):

Agency	Total (in thousands)
Defense	$62,300,000
State and USAID	$46,100,000
Health and Human Services	$3,400,000
Treasury	$760,000
Energy	$491,300
Agriculture	$175,000
Justice	$126,400
U.S. Agency for Global Media	$25,000
Commerce	$22,100
Nuclear Regulatory Commission	$2,000
National Security Council	$1,000
Intelligence Community	$600
TOTAL	$113,403,400

By contrast, the following amounts were appropriated by Congress for oversight:

Organization/Agency	Total (in thousands)
Office of Inspector General /State	$13,500
Office of Inspector General/USAID	$13,000
Office of Inspector General/Defense	$8,000
Government Accountability Office	$7,500
TOTAL	$42,000

As TCS President, Steve Ellis, recently noted during an interview about oversight of Ukraine spending, the important thing is, “Making sure that the money is being spent wisely and appropriately,” said Ellis. “Because as soon as it’s not, then then all of a sudden it becomes a real question as to is this a wise use of federal resources?”

We’re big believers in the Inspector General system, but $42 million in resources to oversee $113.4 billion in spending seems like a bit of a mismatch. But we’ll put our money on the auditors and investigators to keep everyone’s money headed to its intended destinations.