Ernst Demands Oversight of Taxpayer Funds to Ukraine

WASHINGTON – During National Small Business Week, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Ranking Member of the Senate Small Business Committee, is following up on her investigation of the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) taxpayer-funded assistance to small businesses in Ukraine.

“As Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I am writing to request information on your office’s oversight of funds the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ukraine. Since November 2023, USAID Administrator Power has refused to provide clear or substantive responses to my requests for more information on USAID assistance to SMEs in Ukraine despite repeated inquiries. There is no doubt about it: the American people deserve transparency. This is especially true given USAID has pledged to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more on SMEs in Ukraine. Unfortunately, USAID is unwilling to allow for transparency and so the job falls to you, the watchdog tasked with ensuring the agency spends taxpayer money prudently,” Ernst wrote.

“Small businesses in particular are concerned at the sheer scale of subsidies USAID offers to foreign companies, possibly creating competitors to their businesses through awards to potentially under-vetted firms,” Ernst continued.

In the letter, Ernst pointed out some projects USAID touted, including a fashion festival for Ukrainian streetwear brands, a trade mission to Bordeaux for “young Ukrainian animator talents,” and a designer of “astonishing yet functional interior objects,” including a $12,000 coffee table.

“Sending young Ukrainian artists to Bordeaux just wastes Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars. I am concerned USAID views itself as a slush fund for Ukrainian businesses unrelated to the war effort. This is not an effective use of resources to help Ukraine win. To inform ongoing discussion over how best to support a Ukrainian victory, we need robust oversight,” Ernst continued.

Ernst demanded answers on how many Ukrainian small businesses are receiving American taxpayer funds through USAID and a breakdown of those awards; whether these expenditures are being reported to federal databases in a timely manner; and if proper due diligence is being conducted to identify any ties to Russians among potential awardees and ensure USAID funds won’t put Ukrainian small businesses in competition with American companies.

Read the full letter here.

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