GOP lawmakers want to know why the money is in limbo
A local resident walks near a street market destroyed by military strikes as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, in Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine, September 6, 2022. REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi
Adam Kredo • September 9, 2022 at 3:10 p.m
The Biden administration has yet to send more than $2.8 billion in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, fueling concerns in Congress that the administration is undermining its aid efforts as Russia strikes the country.
Congress appropriated nearly $7 billion in recent months to help the US Agency for International Development (USAID) spearhead humanitarian projects in Ukraine. But as of this month, nearly $3 billion of that money remains unspent. A group of Republican senators is demanding an explanation from USAID about why a significant portion of the money they appropriated is in limbo, according to a letter sent to the agency Friday and obtained by Free Washington Beacon.
The seven Republican lawmakers, led by Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa), say they are concerned that “the generosity of the American people is not being used appropriately and promptly to help Ukraine,” according to the letter. “These extraordinary divisions of Congress must be mobilized quickly and effectively to address the unfolding crisis.”
The administration’s “overreliance” on United Nations agencies involved in humanitarian relief efforts “is compounded by the fact that USAID has only the equivalent of four full-time contracting officers overseeing billions of taxpayer dollars through the Office of Humanitarian Assistance. This has led to bureaucratic delays and prevented the full tranche of aid dollars from reaching Ukraine.
The senators are asking USAID and the State Department, which both oversee the aid projects, to provide them with a “detailed strategy” to quickly offload remaining aid dollars to those Ukrainians who need it. They also want USAID’s Office of Humanitarian Assistance to explain why so few workers are tasked with handling these time-sensitive issues.
Congress, at the administration’s request, suspended normal procedures to allocate $7 billion in humanitarian aid through two separate packages. The information received by the legislators shows that USAID has committed only 73.78 percent of the funds made available in the first package and only 50.03 percent of the funds made available in the second. This amounts to $2.8 billion that remains unspent.
“While USAID has made positive progress in recent months in speeding up the delivery and commitment of these aid dollars, more needs to be done,” write Ernst and her colleagues.
Both USAID and the State Department have ignored calls from Congress for the aid money to be distributed more quickly.
“Repeated bipartisan calls for the State Department and USAID to come on board with new NGO partners, accelerate food aid distribution, and increase [USAID’s] the contracting capacity has remained unanswered”, say the legislators.
While Congress has done its part by giving the Biden administration all the money it requested, the delay in releasing those funds threatens to disrupt humanitarian efforts on the ground.
“Supporting Ukrainians as they fight to expel Russia from their territory, preventing a global humanitarian crisis, and preventing mass starvation are all urgent missions, and Congress has stepped up to the plate by providing billions of dollars in emergency funding,” the letter said. “The fiscal and programmatic effectiveness of the US response must be improved.”
The senators say they will continue to press USAID on this issue until “every dollar appropriated” by Congress “is put to work to protect our vital national security interests. This includes continued oversight to ensure that aid appropriated to be deployed effectively and rapidly to mitigate the global humanitarian crisis”.
