Democrats Squeal Like Pigs As Trump Turns Off Their Illegal Faucet

 

While Democrats and corporate media outlets rail against President Donald Trump’s freeze on foreign aid, they fail to mention that Washington bureaucrats have poured billions into programs abroad that yield questionable value to American taxpayers.

The New York Times, CNN, NPR, and other liberal outlets have painted Trump’s day-one executive order halting most foreign aid grants for 90 days as an effort to leave the world out to dry. Lawmakers such as Democratic New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and Democratic Delaware Sen. Chris Coons joined the chorus of condemnation against the loss of taxpayer funding for multi-billion dollar humanitarian programs.

 

USAID Becomes a Target for Reducing Government Waste

The new Trump administration’s goal of reducing government waste has put the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in its crosshairs.

The agency has been responsible for numerous boondoggles that went unchecked for years, including significant grants for Palestinian initiatives, Afghan aid programs that risk falling into Taliban hands, and indirect funding of the Wuhan Institute of Virology. It’s crucial that we hold these agencies accountable for their spending, especially when it comes to taxpayer dollars.

 

Accusations of Intimidation and Agency Dissolution

Schumer took to X on Jan. 31, accusing Trump of purging and intimidating USAID employees and expressing concern over rumors that Trump would dissolve USAID as an independent agency.

Schumer referenced the agency’s creation by JFK and its legal mandate to further national security and spread hope, insisting that any attempt at dissolution would be illegal and counter to U.S. interests.

 

Media Outlets Claim Worldwide Humanitarian Crises

Meanwhile, The New York Times claimed that Trump’s freeze was intensifying humanitarian crises, citing cuts to programs like “firewood” for Ukraine and soup kitchens in Sudan. CNN noted the potential for “catastrophic implications,” arguing that “thousands could die,” based on statements from humanitarian officials.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio quickly clarified in a Jan. 28 waiver that the aid freeze did not apply to “core life-saving programs” but instead targeted activities involving abortions, family planning conferences, gender or DEI ideology programs, transgender surgeries, and other forms of non-life-saving assistance.

 

Significant Sums Allocated Abroad

According to USAID and State Department statistics, the U.S. gave out $68 billion of foreign aid in 2023, with Ukraine receiving over $17 billion in obligations from these agencies. USAID has maintained a footprint in Ukraine for decades and disbursed billions to the country after its president was ousted in 2014.

 

Trump Administration’s Rationale for the Freeze

According to the aid freeze order, the U.S. foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and, in many cases, are antithetical to American values. The order contends that these programs destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that counter harmonious and stable relations.

 

Exclusions for Israel and Egypt

According to Reuters, emergency food and military assistance to Israel and Egypt are excluded from the freeze. Cutting wasteful government funding was a key promise of Trump’s campaign, and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was specifically tasked with carrying out this agenda.

 

Scrutiny of USAID and Elon Musk’s Criticisms

Elon Musk, DOGE’s primary operator, has repeatedly called for shutting down USAID. Trump appointed Rubio as acting director of the organization on top of his State Department duties, marking what the agency announcement described as the effective end of USAID as a standalone entity.

 

Calls to Investigate Abortion-Linked Aid Conditions

Republican Indiana Sen. Jim Banks called on Rubio to investigate the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). This government agency made foreign aid grants to Sierra Leone contingent on the nation’s adoption of pro-abortion policies.

Among U.S. funding to Sierra Leone is an award of $480 million through September 2024 to upgrade the nation’s energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, according to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, some parts of the U.S. energy grid have proven unable to withstand slightly colder-than-average winters.

Banks argued in a letter to the State Department that holding assistance hostage to pressure another nation into adopting pro-abortion legislation is unconscionable. He labeled the use of the MCC to threaten Sierra Leone’s protection for the unborn as both shameful and wrong.

 

Ignored Congressional Freezes on LGBTQ Funds

USAID informed Congress in August 2024 of plans to spend $1.5 million in Latin America and the Caribbean on various LGBTQ causes, ignoring Congress’ freeze on these funds, according to an anonymous source from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

 

Family Planning and Climate Change

USAID sent millions of condoms, injectable birth control products, and IUDs abroad in fiscal year 2022 to facilitate family planning, particularly in the developing world. The agency linked climate change and family planning in 2023, arguing that access to rights-based planning and girls’ education are highly impactful climate solutions and warning that climate change-related displacement can worsen entrenched gender inequalities.

 

Funding Initiatives in Palestinian Territories

The State Department, in partnership with USAID, spent over $81 million during the Biden, Trump, and Obama administrations to promote human rights, civic engagement, and peace in the Palestinian territories.

Much aid intended for Palestinian causes ends up in the hands of Hamas, including a $75 million payment to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in October 2024. A UN spokesperson previously noted that UNRWA staff “likely” participated in the Oct. 7 attack. In response to these allegations, USAID was prohibited from making grants to UNRWA under a May 2024 directive.

 

Women Wage Peace Funding

An Israeli feminist organization, Women Wage Peace, received $500,000 in September 2023 to promote peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine. The group aimed to facilitate leadership training in peace activism, with a track for women religious leaders and climate activists.

USAID spent roughly $102 million on Democracy, Gender, and Rights Programs in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan up to April 2024. Agents involved were routinely arrested by the Taliban, which closely monitored these programs through its general directorate of intelligence, according to a report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).

 

Risks of Funding Terrorist Organizations

SIGAR found an increased risk that at least $293 million disbursed by the State Department in Afghanistan between March and November 2022 could end up in Taliban hands, potentially supporting terrorist organizations.

The Taliban took control of the country following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from Kabul in August 2021, a move many critics labeled one of his administration’s most significant errors. The chaotic withdrawal resulted in the deaths of 13 Americans and the abandonment of billions of dollars in weapons and equipment.

 

EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Lab

USAID was among four government organizations funding EcoHealth Alliance, which sent money to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Multiple federal agencies have identified the lab as the likely origin point of COVID-19. An inspector general’s report highlighted that USAID lacked standards for tracking progress on its projects, complicating efforts to assess their successes or failures.

 

Zero Accountability in Project Outcomes

In 2009, a USAID Inspector General report concluded that the agency’s mission results were frequently inaccurate. The report also criticized USAID for not fully implementing performance-based contracting with its partners. One project claimed to have secured nearly seven million hectares of Amazon forest under improved natural resource management without providing any evidence or data.

 

Rubio’s Criticisms of USAID

Rubio stated that the agency has a history of ignoring policy directives from the State Department and that every dollar spent on foreign aid should align with U.S. interests. According to Rubio, USAID has operated largely without accountability, disregarding policy changes and continuing its own programs without proper oversight.