Senator Josh Hawley Takes A Stand Against the Blank Check to Ukraine

The senatorial debate over S.316, which is a bill to repel authorizations for military force against Iraq, still rages on. The bipartisan bill has been subject to numerous attempts of amendments. 55 in total. The DC Enquirer covered some of those amendments, principally that of Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)’s, in a previous article. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) has proposed another such amendment. This one would, in the words of a supporter, provide “critical oversight” on the money the United States has sent to Ukraine.

That supporter is Saurabh Sharma, the president of the American Moment policy organization, who took to social media to write “Senator @HawleyMO has filed a critical amendment to the upcoming vote on repealing the ’91/’02 Iraq AUMF’s. This would provide critical oversight to the over $115 BILLION we’ve spent on Ukraine aid in just 1 year. Taxpayers deserve accountability. No more blank checks.”

🚨🚨🚨 Senator @HawleyMO has filed a critical amendment to the upcoming vote on repealing the '91/'02 Iraq AUMF's.

This would provide critical oversight to the over $115 BILLION we've spent on Ukraine aid in just 1 year.

Taxpayers deserve accountability. No more blank checks. pic.twitter.com/6mRBNCBOBz

— Saurabh Sharma 🇺🇸 (@ssharmaUS) March 27, 2023

The amendment in question would appoint a special inspector general over Ukraine aid who would supervise “independent and objective” audits and investigations of the resources America has sent to Ukraine. Senator Hawley explained his amendment in the following terms on Twitter: “The American people deserve a tough, tenacious government watchdog to oversee Ukraine aid and get the public a full accounting.”

The American people deserve a tough, tenacious government watchdog to oversee Ukraine aid and get the public a full accounting https://t.co/2hBc78BqCK

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) March 27, 2023

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Missouri Republican expounded on his proposed legislation and who he’d like to see be inspector general. In his remarks to the conservative outlet, he mentioned he would like to someone in the vein of John Sopko, who currently is the inspector general for Afghanistan, fill that role.

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“He’s [Sopko] done a terrific job – maybe he’d like to do this job. I mean, he already knows how to do it. And that’s winding down,” said the senator. Mr. Hawley then added “Maybe he’d like to shift over to Ukraine. I think that would probably be my first choice, but somebody like him, who’s been tough, tenacious, and independent.”

Senator Hawley argued for the urgency for this amendment to pass as he noted that “[w]e spent $113 billion on Ukraine. It is now the largest recipient of United States overseas aid, we need to have one watchdog that is fully accounting for everything we spent and how it’s being used. It’s very simple. Don’t spread this out over numerous agencies, no clear reporting requirements. Let’s give the public an accounting of how their taxpayer money is being spent.”

The Republican senator also mentioned how he thought his fellow senatorial colleagues were taking his proposal. He said “I have talked to all members about this. I’ve brought this up at our regular caucus meetings. We have discussed what this amendment would do, and made a strong case for it. No one has said ‘Oh, no, I’m against this.’ Multiple people who are strong proponents of aid to Ukraine have said ‘Yeah, I think that makes sense.”

The Republican lawmaker added  that “[i]t’s very hard to argue that there should not be robust oversight, which is what this amendment does, so I would hope this would not be controversial.” The Senate, as Fox News, notes is expected to vote on Hawley’s amendment this week.