North Columbus News

Senator JD Vance of Ohio and Representative Dan Bishop from North Carolina, along with other congressional members, have criticized the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its lack of detailed reporting on U.S. funding to Ukraine. The legislators argue that the OMB's response to a request for a comprehensive report fails to include necessary information, such as the names of recipient countries and updated figures accounting for a $6.2 billion "accounting error" revealed in June.

In their letter to the OMB, Vance and Bishop state: “You responded to this request 7 months and 23 days later with a letter and a spreadsheet. The letter states 'transparency and accountability are paramount to ensuring American taxpayers can be confident in their assistance in [sic] helping the Ukrainians fight for their country against Russia’s aggression.' Your response does not approach the standard set out by this declaration."

The legislators claim they still do not have an accurate total of U.S. spending related to Ukraine. They suggest that if the OMB's spreadsheet is used as a basis, the figure stands at around $111 billion but believe that missing data could increase this number significantly.

Previously, Senator Vance sought explanations for discrepancies between official statements about funding provided to Ukraine. In response, the White House confirmed that over $100 billion has been allocated by U.S. taxpayers towards Ukraine's war efforts so far.

In August, OMB requested an additional $24 billion for spending related to Ukraine's conflict. Earlier in January, Senator Vance had called for a "full crosscutting" report from the Biden administration on U.S. security assistance given to Ukraine.