Twenty-Two House Republicans Demand Accountability on Biden's $40b War Spending

A cohort of Republicans, part of the dissenting vote on Biden's Ukraine war package, seeks oversight and specifics about the destination of U.S. money and weapons.

The House of Representatives, on May 10, approved President Biden's $33 billion package for the war in Ukraine, and then, on its own initiative, added $7 billion on top of it.

The lack of any safeguards over the destination of the money and weapons prompted close to two dozen House Republicans, led by Rep. Yvette Herrell, to send a letter to the Biden White House on Monday demanding greater specificity and assurances about legal requirements on how weapons are used.

The letter urges a public reckoning on the dangers of the U.S.'s bankrolling of the war in Ukraine: "We write today to express grave concern about the lack of oversight and accountability for the money and weapons recently approved by Congress for Ukraine," it began.

In the last year alone, the United States will have provided Ukraine with more military aid than any country in the last two decades, and twice as much military assistance as the yearly cost of war in Afghanistan, even when American troops were on the ground.

Has the U.S. discovered whether any weapons previously provided to Ukraine were diverted from their intended recipients or stolen? Have any of the weapons fallen in the hands of criminals or terrorists?

Speaking at the annual World Economic Forum on Monday, Sen. Joe Manchin explicitly rejected the desirability of a diplomatic solution, saying the only acceptable outcome is full military victory over Russia by Ukraine and the U.S. Whatever one's views on this war, it should be deeply concerning how little debate or scrutiny is being permitted as the Biden administration aggressively escalates the U.S. role in what is clearly its most dangerous war in decades.

Even if one supports the spending of $40 billion more and untold amounts into the future as this war drags on, there is no denying that the few dozen members of Congress demanding answers from the White House about their strategy, their management of these expenditures, and their ability to control the destination of these weapons are doing their jobs.

https://greenwald.substack.com/p/twenty-two-house-republicans-demand?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoyODUxMjc5OSwicG9zdF9pZCI6NTYyNDM2ODUsIl8iOiJ0dVNaciIsImlhdCI6MTY1MzQxOTY2MSwiZXhwIjoxNjUzNDIzMjYxLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMTI4NjYyIiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.64sO0uNmF0c-fPQnlTex9zc7VY6-Ox-6OYvagBNOPJs&s=r