Balance of Power

The Foreign Relations Committee approved the bill in late July, just a few weeks before Biden became Obama’s running mate. When the Senate returned in September, there wasn’t much time left in the year, and the senators spent much of that time on things like bailouts. So when Coburn objected to passing the Biden-Lugar bill by unanimous consent — meaning, no objections raised, no vote necessary — the bill had to be scrapped because there wasn’t enough time for a full-blown debate.

Coburn’s aides say he opposed the bill because he’s convinced much of the aid the United States already sends to Pakistan is wasted, noting that the Government Accountability Office found that the oversight of Pakistan military aid is a bit sloppy. “We need to determine if the money we are already spending is making a difference before we spend more money we don’t have,” said Coburn spokesman John Hart. “If we’re not careful, we may end up spending taxpayer dollars to bail out warlords rather than building civil society.”

This year, of course, there is more time for the Senate to schedule a full debate if Coburn objects again. But now that they’re on notice, there’s more time for Kerry and Lugar to think about what kind of oversight they might require for the non-military aid and how they might answer Coburn’s concerns.

And since Obama has made such a priority of cracking down on waste in federal spending at home, it’s a good bet that he’ll be held to the same standard for “smart power” aid to Pakistan, too.