Spending programs work that way. Money gets authorized for certain things but people have to fill out paperwork and do this and that and it's common for it not to all get spent.
For instance the 'Inflation Reduction Act' authorized a certain amount of spending to build pipeline networks to capture carbon from industrial sites and inject them underground.
Turns out the Midwest doesn't want it and they probably won't get as many takers down South.
People quote eye-popping numbers for Ukraine aid but the fact is this is mostly sending them weapons that we already bought. Maybe we replace them, maybe we don't, maybe we replace them with something better. Weapons have a shelf-life and after a certain point you either have to use them in anger or use them for training or dismantle them at great expense. Might as well give them to somebody who needs them. (e.g. the world is full of anti-ship missile that are just slightly expired, probably good enough if you want to use them in anger)
The context of this was that Zelensky was being asked about corruption in Ukraine, and he was hinting that maybe USAID and State Dept might also have a problem.
I don't think it would be corruption there tbh. More like bureaucracy, red tape. Like the OP says a lot of such funding is conditional or earmarked for specific things and checking all that is difficult.
For instance the 'Inflation Reduction Act' authorized a certain amount of spending to build pipeline networks to capture carbon from industrial sites and inject them underground.
Turns out the Midwest doesn't want it and they probably won't get as many takers down South.
People quote eye-popping numbers for Ukraine aid but the fact is this is mostly sending them weapons that we already bought. Maybe we replace them, maybe we don't, maybe we replace them with something better. Weapons have a shelf-life and after a certain point you either have to use them in anger or use them for training or dismantle them at great expense. Might as well give them to somebody who needs them. (e.g. the world is full of anti-ship missile that are just slightly expired, probably good enough if you want to use them in anger)