After the Hold was Lifted, Congress was Forced to Pass a Law to Ensure All of the Military Aid Could Be Distributed to Ukraine
The lengthy delay created by the hold on Ukraine military assistance prevented the Department of Defense from spending all of the Congressionally-appropriated funds by the end of the fiscal year, which meant that the funds would expire on September 30 because unused funds do not roll over to the next fiscal year.1008 This confirmed the fears expressed by Ms. Cooper, Mr. Sandy, and others related to the illegal impoundment of Congressionally-mandated funding—concerns that were discussed in some depth within the relevant agencies in late July and throughout August.1009
Prior to the release of the funds, DOD's internal analysis raised concerns that up to $100 million of military assistance could go unspent as a result of the hold imposed by the President.1010 Ultimately, approximately $35 million of Ukraine military assistance—14% of the total funds—remained unspent by the end of fiscal year 2019.1011 Typically, DOD averages between 2 and 5 percent unspent funds for similar programs, substantially less than the 14 percent left unspent in this case.1012
In order to ensure that Ukraine did not permanently lose $35 million of the critical military assistance frozen by the White House,1013 Congress passed a provision on September 27—three days before funds were set to expire—to ensure that the remaining $35 million in 2019 military assistance to Ukraine could be spent.1014 Ms. Cooper testified that such an act of Congress was unusual—indeed, she had never heard of funding being extended in this manner.1015
As of November 2019, Pentagon officials confirmed that the $35 million in security assistance originally held by the President and extended by Congress had still yet to be disbursed. When asked for an explanation, the Pentagon only confirmed that the funds had not yet been spent but declined to say why.1016
Pressure to Announce Investigations Continued After the Hold was Lifted Before President Trump lifted the hold on security assistance, Ukrainian officials had relented to the American pressure campaign to announce the investigations and had scheduled President Zelensky to appear on CNN.1017 Even after President Trump lifted the hold on September 11, President Zelensky did not immediately cancel his planned CNN interview.1018
On September 12, Ambassador Taylor personally informed President Zelensky and the Ukrainian foreign minister that President Trump's hold on military assistance had been lifted.1019 Ambassador Taylor remained concerned, however, that "there was some indication that there might still be a plan for the CNN interview in New York" during which President Zelensky would announce the investigations that President Trump wanted Ukraine to pursue.1020 Ambassador Taylor testified that he "wanted to be sure that that didn't happen, so I addressed it with Zelensky's staff."1021
145
