WASHINGTON — In late September, State Department officials gave congressional staff a blunt message: the White House had told them to stop future aid to Ukraine through a law enforcement assistance program. A Senate Democratic aide familiar with the discussion described the meeting.
The money flows through International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement, a program that supports Ukraine’s police and border guards as they work to protect civilians and critical infrastructure.
The guidance cut against the department’s own earlier call. After a foreign assistance review, the department had decided Ukraine’s programs could continue, the aide said.
What happened instead was a transfer. The $50 million Congress set aside for Ukraine in fiscal 2025 went to countries in the Western Hemisphere, and Congress was not notified, the aide said. The money was split into amounts below the thresholds that would have required notice, a structure the aide said was meant to keep Congress from being told.
Two senators are pushing back. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, want Secretary of State Marco Rubio to release the security help for Ukraine — and to stop any repeat of the diversion.
In their bipartisan letter, the senators wrote that the department had “inexplicably reprogrammed” the $50 million. The letter, shared with The Washington Sun, demanded an explanation.
“Delaying the obligation of FY 2026 funds risks leaving Ukrainian citizens and infrastructure more vulnerable at a critical moment,”
They urged Rubio to put Ukraine first when the department hands out $80 million in fiscal 2026 funding under the same program for Europe and Eurasia, money Congress did not earmark in full for Ukraine.
Ahead of winter, Russia is hitting Ukraine’s energy facilities harder, and millions of people could lose power, heat or water. Congressional staff said they fear the same thing could happen again, with money meant for Ukraine redirected to the Western Hemisphere a second time.
There is a second pot of money in dispute. The department has also redirected about $52 million in Foreign Military Financing that was meant for partners in Europe and the Middle East, sending it to the Western Hemisphere. Shaheen and Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, have criticized that move.
Shaheen and Tillis made a broader case for the aid, too. Continued help, they argued, strengthens Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions and the rule of law, which makes for a steadier place for the roughly 120 American companies operating in the country. Working with Ukrainian security institutions, they added, also gives the United States access to lessons from Ukraine’s fast-changing defense technology.
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