S. 682 — Independent and Objective Oversight of Ukrainian Assistance Act

This section designates the Act as the "Independent and Objective Oversight of Ukrainian Assistance Act" and sets forth the table of contents.

This section states the purposes of the Act, which are—(1) to provide for the independent and objective conduct and supervision of audits and investigations relating to programs and operations funded with amounts appropriated or otherwise made available to Ukraine for military, economic, and humanitarian aid; (2) to provide for the independent and objective leadership, coordination, and recommendations concerning policies to promote economic efficiency and effectiveness in administering such programs and operations and to prevent and detect waste, fraud, and abuse; and (3) to provide an independent and objective means of keeping the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and heads of other relevant federal agencies fully informed about problems and deficiencies in administering such programs and operations and the necessity for, and progress toward, corrective actions.

This section defines key terms for purposes of the Act, including (1) amounts appropriated or otherwise made available for military, economic, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine to mean funding for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, Foreign Military Financing for Ukraine, specified Department of State nonproliferation, anti-terrorism, demining, and related programs, and titles III and VI of the Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act (division N of P.L. 117-103); (2) appropriate congressional committees to mean eight specified Senate and House committees; (3) Office to mean the Office of the Special Inspector General for Ukrainian Military, Economic, and Humanitarian Aid established under section 4(a); and (4) Special Inspector General to mean the official appointed under section 4(b).

This section establishes the Office of the Special Inspector General for Ukrainian Military, Economic, and Humanitarian Aid. The Special Inspector General, who heads the office, shall be appointed by the President within 30 days of enactment based on integrity and expertise in accounting, auditing, financial analysis, law, management analysis, public administration, or investigations; compensated at level IV of the Executive Schedule; prohibited from certain political activities under 5 U.S.C. §7324; and removable only in accordance with 5 U.S.C. §403(b).

This section requires the Special Inspector General, in accordance with civil service laws and regulations, to appoint (1) an Assistant Inspector General for Auditing to supervise auditing activities for programs and operations funded by U.S. military, economic, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and (2) an Assistant Inspector General for Investigations to supervise investigative activities for such programs.

This section places the Special Inspector General under the general supervision of the Secretaries of State and Defense while prohibiting officers of the Department of Defense, Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, or other relevant federal agencies from preventing or prohibiting the Special Inspector General from (1) initiating, conducting, or completing any audit or investigation related to amounts appropriated or otherwise made available for military, economic, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine or (2) issuing any subpoena during the course of any such audit or investigation.

This section establishes duties for the Special Inspector General to conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and investigations of U.S. military, economic, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine provided after February 24, 2022, including (1) oversight of fund obligations and expenditures; (2) monitoring of reconstruction activities, contracts, and fund transfers among U.S. departments, agencies, Ukraine, and other entities; (3) maintenance of records for future audits; (4) review of U.S. coordination with Ukraine, refugee recipients, regional partners, and donors; (5) investigation of overpayments and unethical or illegal actions by federal employees, contractors, or affiliates; and (6) referral of investigation reports to the Department of Justice. The section further directs the Special Inspector General to establish appropriate systems, procedures, and controls; consult congressional committees before auditing outside Ukraine; carry out standard inspector general duties under 5 U.S.C. ch. 4; and coordinate with the Inspectors General of the Department of Defense, Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, and other relevant agencies.

This section provides the Special Inspector General (SIG) with authorities under section 406 of title 5, United States Code (i.e., Inspector General powers, including those under subsection (e)), except that the SIG may not audit or investigate the intelligence community; requires the SIG to conduct audits under section 7(a) in accordance with audit standards under section 404(b)(1) of title 5; and authorizes expedited hiring under section 3161(b) of title 5 (i.e., appointment authority for temporary organizations, which allows hiring into excepted service positions with pay up to the Senior Executive Service maximum rate) without regard to whether the SIG's office qualifies as a temporary organization. With respect to appointments under section 3161(b), the section (1) prohibits any such appointment on or after the later of 180 days after enactment or 180 days after Senate confirmation of the SIG; (2) provides that the three-year appointment limit (extendable by two years) under section 3161(b)(2) does not apply; and (3) requires that no appointment period extend beyond the office's termination date under section 13. The section further permits reemployment of up to 25 annuitants receiving Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund annuities at any time (as designated by the SIG) for pay periods after enactment, with such annuitants continuing to receive their annuities and not considered employees for purposes of chapters 83 or 84 of title 5 (i.e., no new retirement contributions or service credit).

This section authorizes the Special Inspector General to (1) hire officers and employees subject to competitive service appointment rules (5 U.S.C. ch. 33) and General Schedule classification and pay rates (5 U.S.C. ch. 51, subch. III of ch. 53); (2) procure experts and consultants under 5 U.S.C. 3109 at daily rates not exceeding the GS-15 equivalent under 5 U.S.C. 5332; and (3) enter into contracts for audits, studies, and other services and make related payments, to the extent provided in advance in appropriations Acts. The section further directs the Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense, as appropriate, to provide the Special Inspector General with office space, equipment, supplies, communications, and maintenance services in Ukraine or European partner countries. It also requires federal agencies, upon request, to provide information or assistance to the Special Inspector General to the extent practicable and not contrary to law, with refusals to be reported to the relevant Secretary and congressional committees.

This section requires the Special Inspector General to submit quarterly reports to the appropriate congressional committees, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense not later than 30 days after the end of each fiscal year quarter. The reports must (1) summarize the Special Inspector General's activities and activities under programs funded with amounts appropriated or otherwise made available for military, economic, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, including from the end of the quarter through the report submission date; and (2) provide a detailed statement of all obligations, expenditures, and revenues for such activities, including appropriated funds; project-by-project and program-by-program costs to date with completion estimates for relevant agencies; revenues from foreign nations, international organizations, or seized/frozen foreign assets and their uses; operating expenses of recipients; and details on major contracts, grants, agreements, or funding mechanisms (i.e., those for Ukraine infrastructure, institutions, products/services to Ukrainians, or security assistance) such as dollar amounts, scope, solicitation processes, and non-competitive justifications. The Special Inspector General must publish the reports on a public website in English, Ukrainian, and Russian in unclassified form (with a possible classified annex); the Secretaries of State and Defense may submit unclassified comments (with a possible classified annex) to Congress within 30 days of receipt. This section includes a rule of construction preserving prohibitions on disclosing certain national security, foreign affairs, or criminal investigation information.

This section requires the Secretaries of State and Defense to jointly make publicly available, upon request and at a reasonable cost, (1) any report received pursuant to section 10(a) and (2) any comments submitted pursuant to section 10(e), not later than 60 days after receipt or submission, respectively. The President may waive either requirement for national security reasons, in which case notice must be published in the Federal Register by the submission date to congressional committees, and the report or comments must specify the waiver and affected elements.

This section authorizes $20 million for FY2026 to carry out the Act and rescinds $20 million of amounts appropriated under the heading “Assistance for Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia” in title IV of the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024 (division B of Public Law 118–50).

This section terminates the Office 180 days after unexpended amounts appropriated or otherwise made available for the reconstruction of Ukraine fall below $250 million. The section also requires the Special Inspector General, before the termination date, to submit to the appropriate congressional committees a final forensic audit report on programs and operations funded with amounts appropriated or otherwise made available for military, economic, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.