The Biden administration has admitted that it massively undercounted what it has spent on the proxy war in Ukraine, The American Conservative reported on Tuesday.
The report said the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had previously estimated the US has spent $111 billion on the war. For over a year, a group of members of Congress pressed the OMB to figure out the real number and recently found that it was $125 billion, $14 billion more than what the White House had previously claimed.
In a letter sent to the director of the OMB on Tuesday, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and 15 other members of Congress said that they “now have confirmation from OMB that the total Ukraine spending figure is significantly higher than the administration has ever admitted.”
The lawmakers asked OMB Director Shalanda Young to answer a series of questions about US spending on the proxy and gave her a deadline of April 30.
The Biden administration also still has around $4 billion that could potentially be spent on Ukraine aid in the form of Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows the US to send weapons straight from Pentagon stockpiles. The $4 billion comes from funds that became available after the Pentagon claimed an “accounting error” freed up additional spending for the proxy war.
The Pentagon hasn’t been using the $4 billion in remaining PDA funds because it says there’s no money to replace the weapons after they’re sent to Ukraine. But the US has been finding ways to continue arming Ukraine.
Last month, the administration announced a new $300 million arms package for Ukraine and claimed the money was found in US Army budget savings. On Tuesday, the State Department announced a $138 HAWK air defense deal for Ukraine using funds included in the annual military spending bill President Biden signed into law last month.
President Biden is seeking another $60 billion to fuel the proxy war even though Ukraine has no chance of beating the Russians on the battlefield. The new aid would bring total US spending on the conflict to $185 billion.