Bowling Green Today

U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and JD Vance (R-OH), along with fifteen colleagues from the House and Senate, have demanded answers from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young regarding American aid to Ukraine. This follows new data that revealed previous OMB totals significantly underestimated the cost of Ukraine aid.

The lawmakers stated in a letter, "In January 2023, based on the information then available to us, we had estimated US spending in connection with the Ukraine conflict at a minimum of $114 billion. This figure was higher than the $111 billion in the OMB table sent on September 11, 2023—not to mention the much lower amount cited by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan later that month."

They further added, "We now have confirmation from OMB that the total Ukraine spending figure is significantly higher than the administration has ever admitted." The latest transmission from OMB reveals an additional $684 million in appropriated Ukraine spending that had previously been unreported by the administration. Furthermore, there is an extra $900 million in Department of Defense assistance that should be included in the total Ukraine aid figure.

The lawmakers also pointed out that OMB's new spreadsheet confirms more than $4 billion authority remaining for transferring weapons from US stocks to Ukraine—an authority exercised as recently as March. The administration's use of this authority has led them to admit they need another $10 billion to replenish US stocks depleted by Ukraine weapons transfers.

Collectively, these figures elevate the total amount of assistance given to Ukraine by the administration to over $125 billion and potentially up to more than $129 billion.

For further details, refer to the lawmakers' full letter here or read more from The American Conservative.