Two House committee’s question the Pentagon military officials on President Biden’s monthly aid send’s to the Ukraine…
The questions come not just from Republicans….Democrats also ask about keeping track on the money sent and on what it is spent on….
(Polling has a majority of Americans supporting the effort so far)
Most Democrat and Republican lawmakers SUPPORT aiding the Ukraine aid policy…
But some of the crazies HAVE made noise about sending money out of the country….
But with amount of money running into the BILLIONS….
So?
Lawmakers ask questions…..
More on the American Sec of State making visits to Russian influenced countries …..
Sec. Blinkin is traveling to speak to the foreign ministers of the “C5+1 group,” made up of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan….
Belarus anti-Russian groups are beginning to lauch attacks in their country…
The fight for Bakhumut continues….
More Western countries join training Ukraine troops for combat……
Russia sets conditions for a new nuclear agreement…..
Ukraine NATO gain way out…..
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Republicans in Congress sharply questioned senior Pentagon officials on Tuesday about the tens of billions of dollars in military and other aid the United States has sent to Ukraine, casting fresh doubt on whether they would embrace future spending as Democrats pleaded for a cleareyed assessment of how much more money would be needed.
The exchanges at two House committee hearings, coming just days after the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, highlighted how concerns about the high cost of sending weapons to Kyiv have intensified on Capitol Hill. The growing doubts have threatened what has been a strong bipartisan consensus in favor of the aid, and could make it more difficult for the Biden administration to win congressional approval of funds to replenish its military assistance accounts. The funding inflection point could come as soon as this summer, months earlier than previously expected.
The hearings also illustrated how members of both parties, despite expressing confidence that a majority in Congress remains committed to supporting Ukraine, are concerned that a determined minority — including right-wing Republicans who eschew U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts and liberal antiwar Democrats — may weaken that resolve if the war continues to drag on.
“We’re all concerned about accountability,” Representative Joe Wilson, Republican of South Carolina, who has supported Ukraine funding ventures in the past, said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. “Please, let’s get this publicized so the American people can trust what the expenditures are.”….
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Pledges to send tanks, the grinding nature of the war on the ground and a steady clamor from certain corners of Congress to greenlight advanced systems for Ukraine have threatened to drain war funds at a faster clip than appropriators anticipated last December, when lawmakers approved about $45 billion in military and other assistance, projecting it would last until the end of September.
The steep price tag of the war has prompted Congress to issue a battery of oversight requirements for information about how the money has been spent. Some of those details have been provided to lawmakers, but few have reached the public.
The accelerating spending and dearth of detailed information have fueled the resolve of several naysayers, who doubled down this week on a campaign to cast the Ukraine assistance program as a failed boondoggle, with the apparent tacit blessing of party leaders…..
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Blinken made the remarks to reporters during a visit to Kazakhstan — which has a close relationship with Russia — where he met with foreign ministers of the “C5+1 group,” made up of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. When asked about China’s proposed peace plan for the conflict, Blinken said Beijing “can’t have it both ways.”
