Amid Dem Outrage About USAID, Ernst Sets Record Straight on Potentially Shuttered Agency

Before Monday, how many Very Online Democrats do you think even knew about the U.S. Agency for International Development or what it did?

They still don’t know what it does, I don’t think — but the freezing of the agency’s budget and the closing of its headquarters as of Monday, according to The Wall Street Journal, became one of the first great outrages of the second Trump administration, with one lawmaker declaring the move “what the beginning of dictatorship looks like.”

It’s unclear what will happen to USAID, which had a budget of $44.7 billion in 2024. Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency want to eliminate it, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio seemed amenable to folding its functions into the Department of State.

Neither pleased Democratic lawmakers, who tried to enter USAID headquarters Monday and were turned away. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, leader of the group, vowed to take the administration to court to stop them from “undoing USAID,” according to The Hill. Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, meanwhile — always able to be counted on for the most OTT take on anything — provided that “dictatorship” quote at the halfhearted protest:

🚨IIhan Omar throws a fit on live television over President Trump freezing USAID payments, calls him a “dictator”:

We talked about Trump wanting to be a dictator on day one, and here we are. This is what the beginning of dictatorship looks like!”
pic.twitter.com/uI18WhiUPH

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 3, 2025

So, what’s the big deal? What does USAID do, anyway?

From an archived version of its currently shuttered website: “We work together with individuals, communities, and countries globally to improve everyday lives. USAID’s efforts provide humanitarian assistance, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance, advance economic opportunities, and help achieve progress beyond programs. Our work benefits people around the world, including those in the United States. USAID’s investments help achieve sustainable development progress, advancing our collective security, health, and prosperity.”

Well, that sounds 1) great and 2) profoundly vague. So OK — what does the organization really do?

Good question, GOP Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa said. Such a good question she had to launch an investigation with a fellow Republican to get some transparency on spending matters, according to the Daily Caller.

Speaking with Greta Van Susteren on Newsmax on Monday, she said that while “that there are good programs that have existed out there that have benefited the stability of many regions around the world,” there’s also a lot of money unaccounted for.

“Unfortunately, we have seen those at the top again that have really tried to stop members of Congress from understanding how our taxpayer dollars are flowing through the agency,” she said, noting that she and GOP Rep. Mike McCaul of Texas began a formal investigation into their finances last year.

“We know in the example of Ukraine — and this is what I was very focused on — is the humanitarian aid wasn’t getting distributed to humanitarian aid contractors. Instead, it was being sent to the United Nations, where we have absolutely no idea where that money is going from that point forward,” she said.

“So we tried to call the question on USAID, and, again, they threatened us, they stonewalled us, until I was able to join forces with Congressman Mike McCaul and announce a formal investigation of the agency,” she continued. “And then, even they slow walked providing any data to us.”

Also, while there are plenty of places in the world where humanitarian money is needed — Africa, for instance — she said Americans needed to know it was going for inoculations and not indoctrination.

“I would rather see us feeding impoverished nations. But we need to know that those dollars are doing it and not going to fund terrorist organizations, not going to support a gender ideology in certain regions,” she said.

“We have to know that it’s going for a specific goal that is approved by Congress and, unfortunately, USAID has abused this system.”

And, yes, as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pointed out, plenty of USAID funding has apparently been going to wokeness-related activities:

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— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025

The people of Peru may want for many things, but thank heavens a U.S.-funded transgender comic book apparently isn’t one of them.

Let this be an object lesson going forward: The issue isn’t that USAID is so critical, or that winding it down would be dictatorial. What the Trump administration wants is a transparent swamp. How much gets wasted via obfuscation and layers of bureaucracy?

Our federal government has created layers of bureaucracy to create enough obfuscation, so that you never find out. It’s the world’s most expensive administrative onion, and there are so many layers to it that the Beltway elite feel confident that nobody will put in the effort to peel them away.

Investigations and inquiries get nowhere. Freezes and DOGE intervention? That, if the anaphylactic reaction to the USAID move is any indication, is enough of a threat to the ossified establishment Washington process that permanent D.C. is perspiring. Good.

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