Pentagon accounting 'mishap' could allow US to send Ukraine billions more in aid without Congressional approval

On Thursday, the Pentagon revealed that a multi-billion dollar accounting error had been discovered in records pertaining to the United States' shipments of weapons to Ukraine.

As a result, that money is still available for the Defense Department to use to send more weapons to the war-torn nation, and since the amount was technically already given the green light by Congress, no additional approval from lawmakers is necessary.



Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh explained that officials allegedly overestimated the value of the weapons already provided to Ukraine by the Defense Department, with the calculations being off by over $3 billion.
 

"During our regular oversight process of presidential drawdown packages, the Department discovered inconsistencies in equipment valuation for Ukraine," she said. "In some cases, 'replacement cost' rather than 'net book value' was used, therefore overestimating the value of the equipment drawn down from US stocks."

An official from the Defense Department, who spoke under conditions of anonymity, told the Associated Press that while an exact amount hasn't been calculated yet, an investigation is underway to tabulate the correct figures and find out just how many more weapons the US can send. 

Since the war broke out over a year ago, the US has provided over $50 billion in aid to Ukraine, with much of that going toward weapons and other military equipment.

In recent months, there has been a push from certain members of Congress to have the government reveal exactly where the money is going, and where it ends up. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, for example, has stated numerous times that she wants to audit every US dollar sent to Ukraine.

"Every single American deserves that answer, whether you're Republican or Democrat — you deserve to know where United States tax dollars are going in Ukraine," she said. "It's not for the war, against the war. It's just asking for transparency and oversight for the American people and where their billions and billions of dollars are going."