Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) criticized the Biden administration for missing the deadline for providing a “full crosscutting report” for Congress on Ukraine funding and demanded that the president come up with a “immediate plan” that would put an end to the conflict in Ukraine while also advancing American national security interests.
“Congress approved billions in additional security aid for the conflict in Ukraine over a month ago. President Biden promised to give a report outlining our financial involvement in this battle when he signed the measure into law,” according to a statement from Vance.
The administration of President Joe Biden, however, “flagrantly disobeyed its own commitment to transparency,” according to the senator from the Buckeye State, by failing to provide the report on schedule.
Vance was referring to the “complete crosscutting report” that he and a number of House and Senate senators sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget, asking for information on “U.S. government-wide spending for Ukraine and ‘nations touched by the situation in Ukraine’ since Feb. 24, 2022.” By the deadline of Tuesday, February 7, the Office of Management and Budget did not deliver a report to Congress and the American people.
In light of this, Vance asserted in his statement on Wednesday that before spending “another taxpayer dime in Ukraine,” Biden “must set forth a clear plan for ending the crisis in a way that serves our national security interests.”
“Stop issuing blank checks. The President needs to explain to the American people how this will end,” he continued.
Additionally, since Ukraine has received at least $114 billion in funding since last year and the U.S. has also sent supplies to Ukraine, American lawmakers have begun raising concerns about how the country’s defense industrial base may soon run into difficulties restocking supplies of particular types of weapons.
Within a week of the commencement of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, according to a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the United States would run out of essential weaponry like long-range precision-guided munitions. Regarding the report, Roll Call noted:
“The report emphasizes that U.S. assistance to Ukraine is not the issue by itself because an Indo-Pacific conflict would primarily require other kinds of armaments. However, given that the U.S. is not even directly participating in the conflict in Ukraine, it is clear how rapidly stockpiles may be drained in the event of another conflict.”
The report’s author, Seth G. Jones, head of CSIS’s International Security Program, stated, “The war in Ukraine has taught us that our industrial base is not prepared. The armaments and equipment required for a conventional conflict and conventional deterrence are not being produced. Therefore, it serves as a wake-up call.”
