Special to the American Press

Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., helped lead. Based on Kennedy’s Independent and Objective Oversight of Ukrainian Assistance Act, the amendment would establish a Lead Inspector General (IG) for Ukraine.

The Lead IG’s office would oversee the humanitarian, economic and security assistance funding that the U.S. Congress has provided to the country and make sure that the funds are appropriately spent.

“This money didn’t fall from heaven. It came out of people’s pocket. How can we possibly look the American people in the eye and say that we don’t want to assure them that this money will not be stolen? That’s all this bill does,” explained Kennedy on the Senate floor.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) led the legislation, and Sens. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) are all original co-sponsors of the amendment.

“American taxpayers deserve to know that their money is helping Ukraine defeat Putin effectively. Congress needs to guarantee that oversight, but Democrats refused tonight. This taxpayer investment is too big to relegate to the normal bureaucratic channels within the Defense Department or State Department. It demands an inspector general with a singular focus on America’s return on investment in Ukraine,” Kennedy said after the vote.

The amendment would also ensure that members of Congress can access all classified reports from the Lead IG’s office and requires the IG to brief any committee or member within 15 days of the request. This provision would make dilatory behavior a violation of the law when it comes to members’ getting access to the Lead IG.

The amendment requires that all part-time Ukraine IG personnel work on Ukraine oversight full-time.

It includes an independent assessment to review whether the Lead IG responsibilities are negatively impacting an IG’s other duties. This independent assessment would also explicitly look at whether a Special IG, as Kennedy has advocated for previously, is more appropriate for Ukraine oversight.