Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that $400 million in support for Ukraine has been released after Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) published an angry op-ed criticizing the stagnant funding.
“The department acknowledges that it has allocated $400 million for European capacity building, and as of yesterday, that funding had been released,” Hegseth said in response to a question about the aid from Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.).
Elfreth then asked if the money was being released in accordance with the contract.
Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst III said the aid was “not contracted, it was released under contract.”
When pressed by Elfreth on when the money could actually be used in Ukraine, the auditor general said, “It depends on what they buy with the money.”
“We will take the advice of the commander of EUCOM and make the best use of these funds,” he added, referring to U.S. European Command.
Throughout the questioning, Elfreth referenced McConnell’s anger that bipartisan funds were not released earlier.
“Despite some public disparagement, Ukraine probably supports us more than any other ally in the Middle East,” the Maryland representative said at the start of the inquiry.
“They are taking advantage of a hard-fought war with Russia. They are intercepting Iranian drones that threaten our and our partners’ forces in the Middle East,” she added.
McConnell initially blamed the delay on Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, whom he accused of blocking lawmakers from asking about funding delays after he reportedly suspended weapons shipments to Ukraine last year.
The former Senate Republican leader said this isn’t the first time this has happened.
“Colby also considered security assistance to Ukraine and U.S. NATO allies in the Baltics a ‘waste’ and removed these long-standing efforts from the fiscal 2026 budget request,” McConnell noted in his op-ed.
The Senate passed a $900 billion national defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2026 late last year, which provides $400 million to Ukraine in 2026 and another $400 million in 2027 through the Ukraine Security Assistance Program.
The funding is intended to pay U.S. companies to produce high-priority weapons for Ukraine’s armed forces.
Filip Timotija contributed to this report.
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