On Thursday, Republicans in the House of Representatives opposed to providing the United States with aid to Ukraine while that country is at war with Russia introduced a privileged resolution to audit the money that Congress has authorised.
The resolution is being driven by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga), who has the support of a number of other Republican members. Legislators in the House and Senate who are on both sides of the aisle and are in favour of maintaining U.S. assistance to Ukraine have referred to their colleagues who disagree as belonging to a minority fringe.
However, the resolution, which calls for preserving administration documents and communications related to funding distribution for Ukraine, speaks to other criticisms voiced by some Republican lawmakers. These lawmakers support assisting Ukraine but believe there should be a greater level of oversight.
More than $20 billion in military support has been delivered to Kyiv by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, in addition to around $10 billion in humanitarian assistance and over $13 billion in economic assistance.
We must audit every American taxpayer dollar sent to Ukraine, which is why I introduced a resolution to do just that.
The American people deserve to know where their money is being sent. pic.twitter.com/LpiZKB04id
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) November 18, 2022
In addition, Vice President Biden has requested that the United States Congress allocate an additional $37.7 billion for Ukraine. Greene presented the bill as a privileged resolution, which indicates that it will be referred to the appropriate committee, where members will have 14 business days to either vote against it or vote in favour of it so that it can be put to a vote on the House floor.
In the event that the item is not discussed in the committee within the allotted amount of time, Greene has the authority to call for a vote on the bill on the House floor, even if it has not been assigned to a committee.
It is not yet known which committee in the House would review the resolution; however, Democrats are likely to vote against it to prevent it from being brought up for a vote on the House floor. Greene said she is prepared to reintroduce the resolution in the next Congress when Republicans hold the majority.
“I’ll be reintroducing this resolution, but in addition to that, I’ll be pushing for a comprehensive audit. We rejected the idea of sending money in that direction, but we will investigate the current situation in Ukraine.
Republican Representatives Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Barry Moore (Ala.), Andrew Clyde (Ga.) and Thomas Massie are among those who have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill (Ky.). At a press conference on Thursday, Representative-elect Cory Mills, who will represent Florida in the House of Representatives, was also present.
In his response to complaints voiced within his party over the help provided by the United States, Greene referred to statements made by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who had earlier stated that Republicans are not going to send a “blank check” to Ukraine.
Greene replied, “You’ve heard Leader McCarthy say publicly that he doesn’t see excellent odds for very much funding for Ukraine going forward in a conference controlled by Republicans.” “You’ve heard that,” McCarthy answered. “You’ve heard it.”
McCarthy later attempted to clarify his views by stating that he backed U.S. assistance to Ukraine but favoured tighter oversight. He had said this in response to criticism he had received for his initial statements.
Greene said she had informed the Republican leader that she was introducing the resolution. “I said, ‘I’m having a press conference at 4,’ and he said, ‘OK.'”
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