WASHINGTON—Heritage Foundation President Dr. Kevin Roberts released the following statement Thursday responding to reports of a congressional plan to pass a supplemental spending package pairing funds for Ukraine with money for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund (DRF). 

"Reports of a backroom deal to evade spending caps and pair Ukraine money and disaster funds are disappointing. Yet again, Washington politicians are working to renege on their promises to the American people and pass unaccountable funding through opaque processes. This is an attempt to hold American citizens hostage by using the cover of hurricane relief as leverage to jam through tens of billions of taxpayers’ dollars for Ukraine with little meaningful oversight.

“A newly declassified report from the Pentagon’s inspector general revealed that weapons, ammunition, and equipment were stolen by multiple criminal groups in Ukraine. Worse, the report shows the military conducted no meaningful monitoring for these weapons and other aid. Heritage has pointed out these problems and called for oversight for over a year. Unfortunately, the Senate yesterday rejected a commonsense amendment to create a new oversight office. Until there is real accountability for Ukraine aid, Congress shouldn’t spend another cent.

“Additionally, any funding requests, regardless of their goal, should be considered through the normal appropriations process currently ongoing in both chambers. When Washington plays spending games with supplementals and omnibus packages, the American people lose. Congress should not try to skirt the fiscal caps passed just a few months ago, and they should not revert to bad habits and broken processes.”