Biden’s Upside-Down Spending Priorities

With the Biden administration’s July 19 announcement of an additional $1.3 billion in aid to Ukraine, some sources estimate that the United States has now sent roughly $115 billion to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.

This $115 billion—sent with barely any debate whatsoever in Congress—draws a sharp contrast with some other congressional funding debates in recent years, particularly when it comes to funding to secure our own borders.

It was only a few years ago that we witnessed the longest government shutdown in U.S. history—35 days in total—after President Donald Trump demanded a mere $5.7 billion to build a border wall and fully secure our Southern border in 2018-2019.

In hindsight, that investment would’ve been a small one in comparison to the price of illegal immigration, in both dollars and lives, since Joe Biden took office. The total cost of illegal immigration to the American taxpayer is an estimated $150 billion per year at the federal, state, and local levels, and there are even more downstream effects that can’t be quantified.

In addition, more than 7 million illegal immigrants have surged across the border under Biden, creating an unprecedented humanitarian disaster in border states. Fentanyl overdoses have hit record highs, and drug cartels have expanded their operations throughout northern Mexico as they continue to operate an industry estimated to bring in tens of billions of dollars per year.

Human trafficking has also risen to an estimated $13 billion per year industry, and at least 290,000 children have been trafficked across the southern border since the Biden administration began.

This Biden border crisis could end virtually overnight, if only America’s political leaders cared to stop it and Biden was willing to provide a small portion of what he has sent to Ukraine. Data from the Department of Homeland Security shows that constructing a border wall can decrease illegal immigration by as much as 87 percent, reduce Customs and Border Protection manhours, and decrease drug smuggling and human trafficking.

Fully securing our southern border would offer real, tangible results that benefit the lives of millions of Americans across the country, from stopping the flow of drugs into the country to relieving strains on the American taxpayer, and everything in between—all for a fraction of what we have sent overseas to Ukraine alone.

In light of this glaring inversion of spending priorities, it is also increasingly hard to ignore the Bidens’ own relationship with Ukraine.

Recent whistleblower testimony alleges that Hunter Biden and other family members received more than $7 million from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings Limited as part of an “influence peddling scheme” to enrich the Biden family.

Furthermore, recently unclassified FBI documents suggest that the Biden family coerced Burisma executives to pay them millions to get a Ukrainian special prosecutor fired—something President Trump was impeached for merely suggesting that the government should look into.

Even if there are no ulterior motives behind the massive outflow of taxpayer dollars to Ukraine, the American public has a right to question the motives behind this funding, how their money is being used, and whose interests it is serving.

Prior to the invasion, Ukraine—which is not a NATO ally state and is a nation that the United States has no obligation to defend, through treaty or otherwise—was frequently listed as one of the most corrupt nations in the world. The actions of Ukrainian leadership over the past year and a half have done little to combat this narrative: Ukraine has banned opposition parties, restricted the freedom of the press, and restricted religious organizations. Ukrainian intelligence agencies even worked with the FBI to censor the voices of American citizens online.

In such times, it can be helpful to turn back to simple principles. Our Founding Fathers designed the United States government to secure the rights of the American people. Our Constitution constructed a federal government that was limited in scope, with a focus on national defense.

Never-ending tranches of billions of dollars sent abroad—with no defined objectives and no end in sight—undermines the very purpose of constitutional government, squanders taxpayer dollars, and raises ethics issues regarding influence peddling. Congress should prioritize funding with tangible benefits to the American people.

Tom Doniphon is the pen name of a former Trump Administration official.