A letter from 29 congressional Republicans, six of them senators, asks the Biden administration for more transparency regarding U.S. aid to Ukraine, on the theory that Congress needs more information before approving the latest request for an additional $24 billion in aid. The signatories cover a spectrum of the right edge of the GOP caucus, including MAGA figures such as J. D. Vance, Tommy Tuberville, Paul Gosar, and Andy Biggs; libertarians such as Rand Paul; and more small-government conservative types such as Chip Roy and Mike Lee. The letter’s request for more concrete information about the flow of money is reasonable enough. Congress has duties of oversight, and those duties become especially important when asked to renew emergency spending. The nature of emergencies — such as the arrival of the pandemic or the Russian invasion of Ukraine — is such that it is typically more important to authorize getting dollars out the door quickly than making sure every penny is properly directed and accounted for. But the press of time is no longer an excuse once the executive comes back asking for multiple tranches of funding over the succeeding months or years.
Where the letter misunderstands the conflict, however, is in its strange insistence that we do not have a strategy in supporting Ukraine:
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