On Wednesday night, Senate Democrats joined forces to oppose the inclusion of a new office responsible for auditing US military assistance to Ukraine. The proposed Office of the Lead Inspector General for Ukraine Assistance was part of an amendment to the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) within the annual defense spending bill.

A total of 45 Democrats, including all members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, voted against the amendment, effectively blocking its passage. Notably, Senators Angus King (I-Maine), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) also sided with the Democrats in rejecting the establishment of this oversight office.

The Democratic opposition, which included senators in vulnerable seats like Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, prevented the amendment from reaching the required 60-vote threshold to be incorporated into the bill.

The amendment, had it been approved, would have allocated $10 million from the $886 billion budget of the NDAA towards creating a 30-person inspector general's office dedicated to overseeing Ukraine assistance.