White House says Ukraine funds up soon — but where does money go?

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By Josh Christenson and Caitlin Doornbos

The Biden administration alerted Congress Monday that funding to assist Ukraine in its war with Russia will run out by the end of this year as negotiators reach an impasse over future military and humanitarian aid — even though much of the spending benefits the US.

President Biden in October proposed a $105 billion package which would provide assistance for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, but congressional Republicans have insisted on including provisions to bolster US border security, over Democratic objections.

“Over 10,200 people illegally crossed the border just yesterday, one of the highest days in history and absolutely unprecedented for December,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), a chief GOP negotiator on the legislation, said on X Sunday morning.

“We continue to work to find a solution that will protect our national security, stop the human trafficking and prevent the cartels from exploiting the obvious loopholes in our law. That is the goal & we will continue to work until we get it right.”

With four weeks left in 2023, senior White House officials are stressing the importance of renewing funding for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s troops as the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion nears in February.

On Monday, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) highlighting “the ways this investment has halted Russia’s advances in Ukraine, helped Ukraine achieve significant military victories, and revitalized the American Defense Industrial Base.”

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Young warned that Congress’ approach to the supplemental request would determine whether the US would “fight for freedom across the globe or … ignore the lessons we have learned from history and let [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and autocracy prevail.”

“​​I want to be clear: without congressional action, by the end of the year we will run out of resources to procure more weapons and equipment for Ukraine and to provide equipment from US military stocks,” she added. “There is no magical pot of funding available to meet this moment. We are out of money—and nearly out of time.”

Young’s letter revealed that that $67 billion, or 60% of the already appropriated funds, had “bolstered” US defense and weapons stockpiles, while another $27.2 billion, or 24%, assisted Ukraine’s economy and security in response to Russian attacks on exports.

A Nov. 29 report by the American Enterprise Institute found that approximately $60 billion — almost 90% of the $68 billion in military and other assistance approved by Congress since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 — has gone to build new weapons for US forces or replace older equipment sent to assist Kyiv.

Those weapons and other materiel, AEI found, are being manufactured in states like Florida, Ohio, and Missouri — where lawmakers like Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) have either expressed skepticism about or outright opposed further spending on Ukraine.

That political reality was not lost on Young, who specified in her Monday letter that both staunch Republican and politically tenuous swing states stood to benefit from further largesse.

“While we cannot predict exactly which US companies will be awarded new contracts,” she wrote, “we do know the funding will be used to acquire advanced capabilities to defend against attacks on civilians in Israel and Ukraine—for example, air defense systems built in Alabama, Texas, and Georgia and vital subcomponents sourced from nearly all 50 states.

“We will modernize vital munitions and equipment like Javelins made in Alabama; Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) made in West Virginia, Arkansas and Texas; tactical vehicles made in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana; and 155mm artillery shells made in Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and Iowa and many other states.”

In all, Young wrote, roughly half of the proposed spending package — more than $50 billion — will be sent to America’s defense industrial base, supporting investments in manufacturing across 35 states.

The current aid system represents a win-win for both the US and Ukraine, senior defense officials tell The Post, as Kyiv swiftly gets the weapons it needs and Washington stocks up on the latest versions of weaponry in preparation for future conflict.

Currently, just 3% of the total funds received by the Pentagon are still available. Nearly all of the $2.3 billion in emergency monies given to the State Department and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) — including $500 million specifically for Ukrainian refugees –has also been used.

Johnson said in a Monday statement that the Biden administration had thus far “failed to substantively address any of my conference’s legitimate concerns about the lack of a clear strategy in Ukraine, a path to resolving the conflict, or a plan for adequately ensuring accountability for aid provided by American taxpayers.”

“Meanwhile, the Administration is continually ignoring the catastrophe at our own border,” he also said. “House Republicans have resolved that any national security supplemental package must begin with our own border. We believe both issues can be agreed upon if Senate Democrats and the White House will negotiate reasonably.”

The House speaker separately passed $14.3 billion last month in military assistance to support Israel’s war effort against Hamas terrorists in Gaza, but the bill has yet to be picked up in the Senate.

The $61.4 billion the White House requested for Ukrainian aid was “not some pie-in-the-sky wish list,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stressed to reporters Friday, but rather a “dollar figure derived from a informed consultation with our Ukrainian partners about what they need, and we need that assistance immediately so that we can provide them assistance in an interrupted way.”

The Pentagon last month began cutting back its spending on Ukraine, reducing both the pace and amounts in the aid packages.

“You’ve already seen the security packages getting smaller in the last month or so because again, we’re running out of runway and we’re running out of checks in the checkbook,” Kirby said last week. “We’ve got to be able to keep the aid going.”

The administration assesses that continued funding is critical to defeating Russia, as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last month told Congress that “if the US does not continue to support Ukraine, they will not succeed.”

“If we don’t get that support from Congress, the message it’s going to send around the world about how much Ukraine matters – and how much the United States and our leadership can deliver for our partners around the world – is going to be loud and clear and deeply unfortunate,” Kirby said.

“I can’t see anybody in this country, no matter who you vote for, no matter what party you represent, that can sit back at night and think that that’s a good thing to do, to let Putin think you can just get away with this … because we aren’t willing to come together and support a partner who is literally fighting for their lives.”