In Senate Hearing, Shaheen Presses Hegseth, Defense Officials for Details on how the Pentagon will use $400 Million Congress Allotted for Ukraine

(Washington, DC) – In today’s hearing examining the President’s budget request for the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH ), a top member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services and Appropriations Committees , grilled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and senior defense officials for details about how the Pentagon plans to use $400 million that Congress has allotted for Ukraine. Despite clear Congressional intent, the Pentagon has not given Congress details about how the Pentagon plans to spend the funds appropriated by Congress. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine told Senator Shaheen he would follow up by day’s end. Click HERE to watch Senator Shaheen’s remarks and questioning. Key quotes from Senator Shaheen: “Secretary Hegseth, Congress enacted $400 million to provide security assistance to Ukraine in January. Now the Committee received a notification, just yesterday, confirming only that the funding would go toward Ukraine. It contained no details about the type of equipment, no delivery timelines—nothing that is typically included in these notifications. And when asked about the delay in funding, the Committee was told that Bridge Colby was developing a spend plan, but we have received nothing. So, when can we expect the full spend plan for this appropriation?” “But that was not the intent of Congress in providing that $400 million. As I understand, the PURL [Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List] program, the Europeans purchased those weapons from the United States and they pay for them. But this appropriation was $400 million that Congress expected to be provided to Ukraine, not paid for by the Europeans, but provided from the United States to support Ukraine. So, again, I don’t understand what the justification is for using PURL when that is not the intent Congress provided.” “That is what I’m asking you: Why are you using PURL to do something Congress intended to go directly to Ukraine? [...] What was the legal opinion on this? Did you ask the attorneys if the $400 million could be used for the PURL program? [...] And what portion of the funding committed from the Europeans under PURL is being used to assist Ukraine rather than restocking our own shelves?” ###