Washington: The administration of President Joe Biden has objected to US lawmakers' proposals to create an independent inspector general to examine Washington's sizable military and economic aid packages for Ukraine.

Concerned is a clause added to the $874 billion US defence budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which calls for a second layer of oversight on aid to Ukraine modelled after the inspector general established for Afghan reconstruction.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida who leans conservative, has claimed that the White House lacks adequate controls to stop fraud and other misuse of the $113 billion in aid that Congress authorised to support Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

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On the other hand, the administration claimed on Monday that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Pentagon inspector general were already collaborating with pertinent congressional committees to "ensure accountability" for Ukraine aid. The GAO and the Pentagon inspector general are currently looking into "every aspect of this assistance," according to a statement from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The White House is also against a defence bill amendment that would give the inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction more power. Inspectors from the US State Department and US Agency for International Development already oversee the aid, according to the OMB, so "this expansion is both unnecessary and unprecedented."

Independent inspector general for Afghanistan's reconstruction John Sopko issued a strong safeguards warning in February, saying that corruption could undermine US aid to Ukraine. A repeat of US errors in Afghanistan, where much aid was "diverted or stolen," could occur in Ukraine if lessons are not learned from them.

According to Sopko, "you're bound to get corrupt elements to steal the money, not just from the Ukrainian or host government, but also from US government contractors or other third-party contractors."

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A motion to audit the aid to Kiev was opposed by the Georgian Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene in Congress last year. 

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One of the most corrupt nations in Europe is Ukraine, according to various surveys. Earlier this year, due to profiteering, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky dismissed a number of senior officials. According to a CBS News report from August 2022, corruption and waste prevented about 30% of the Western weapons sent to Kiev from reaching the front lines.