Posted on 02/03/2025 8:47:20 PM PST by Red Badger
Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst appeared Monday on Newsmax to say that members of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have obstructed and even threatened her efforts to oversee how it distributes money.
VIDEO AT LINK...................
During an appearance on “The Record with Greta Van Susteren,” Ernst talked about her past problems with USAID and complained about a lack of transparency in how its funds are distributed. Funds, she said, often do not go toward their initially intended purposes. This alleged redirection of funds prompted Ernst to question USAID about its operational practices, a move she said was met with resistance and even threats.
“We do know that there are good programs that have existed out there that have benefited the stability of many regions around the world, which, in turn, benefits the United States of America. But 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,” Ernst said.
The senator said her concerns escalated to the point where she, alongside Republican Texas Rep. Mike McCaul, initiated a formal investigation into USAID’s activities.
“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. 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,” Ernst said. “And then, even they slow walked providing any data to us.”
Ernst also discussed what she said were the geopolitical implications of neglecting foreign aid, specifically in regions like Africa.
“Scrutinizing the dollars that are flowing through that agency is very important, because, yes, I would rather see immunizations go to children in Africa. 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. We have to know that it’s going for a specific goal that is approved by Congress and, unfortunately, USAID has abused this system,” Ernst said.
President Donald Trump and Department of Government Efficiency Chair Elon Musk initiated the dismantling of USAID, with plans to merge its functions into the State Department. Musk said in an early Monday X Spaces discussion that he and Trump decided to close USAID. The Trump administration directed the agency’s staff to telecommute, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio stepping in as the acting director and criticizing the agency’s operations as akin to a “global charity.”
In response to this move to shut down USAID, Democratic lawmakers are contemplating using their minority status to obstruct Trump’s agenda. They said they plan to leverage their votes on government funding and delay confirmations for Trump’s nominees, as revealed in several press conferences on Monday.
“We are pursuing every action that we think we can do,” Democratic Washington Sen. Patty Murray said during a press conference Monday afternoon. “But I will tell you this: we are here to pull the fire alarm. We are pulling the fire alarm.”
Trump, during a news conference Monday in the Oval Office, said the USAID merger with the State Department should have been done a long time ago.
“[USAID] went crazy during the Biden administration,” Trump said. “They went totally crazy [with] what they were doing and the money they were giving to people that shouldn’t be getting [it].”
lets see if certain names suddenly change/reduce posting patterns in the coming days and weeks.
Can’t yell FIRE in an crowded theater, Patty.
The Ukraine has been just as a corrupt of a money laundering operation as USAID.
USAID needs to be shut down and its employees fired. Putting it under State guarantees that it will continue to do exactly what it’s been doing - serving as a front for left-wing advocacy across the globe using US taxpayer dollars.
When did this happen Joni? Why did you not go public the moment you were threatened by them? What exactly was the threat?
Exactly. Sorry, but not everyone can be trusted. She needs to verify.
Ok,
You can’t just drop a hint like that without providing some more clues!
Flashback: Biden admin repeatedly used USAID to push abortion in Africa
By Anders Hagstrom Fox News, February 3, 2025
While the agency’s long-term future remains unclear, lawmakers and activists have repeatedly accused USAID of using funding to leverage policy changes across the globe. Under President Joe Biden’s administration, the organization was frequently used to push abortion in Africa, critics say. Biden cleared the path for USAID funding to flow toward pro-abortion groups across the globe just days after entering office. He signed an executive order rescinding the Reagan-era “Mexico City Rule” on Jan. 28, 2021. The rule, first rescinded by President Barack Obama and then reinstated during Trump’s first term, prevented foreign aid from going to nongovernmental organizations that promote abortion or provide abortion services.
“These excessive conditions on foreign and development assistance undermine the United States’ efforts to advance gender equality globally by restricting our ability to support women’s health,” Biden said at the time. Biden’s rule change cleared USAID to send millions in funding to aggressive abortion organizations like Marie Stopes International (MSI). MSI said it relied on USAID for 17% of its total donor income under the Obama administration, adding that the lack of U.S. support created an $80-million “funding gap” over the final three years of Trump’s term. The group said the countries most heavily impacted by the lack of funding were Madagascar, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., accused Biden in 2023 of “hijacking” a successful AIDS relief program to push an international abortion agenda. Smith’s accusations centered on PREPFAR, a funding program within USAID that, at the time, had already allocated some $100 billion toward fighting AIDS across the world, saving 25 million lives and preventing millions of infections. Smith says two groups, Population Services International (PSI) and Village Reach, had received $96.5 million and $10.1 million, respectively, from PEPFAR under Biden, and both groups have a track record of pushing abortion.
“PSI proudly proclaims it provides abortion and lobbies to eliminate pro-life laws,” Smith said at the time. “PSI provides comprehensive abortion and post-abortion care services in nearly 20 countries throughout the world.” Smith alleged Village Reach used PEPFAR funds “to promote abortion in Malawi and lobby for changes in pro-life laws” and also “helped Malawi establish a government-funded hotline (that included providing information and referrals for ‘sexual and reproductive health,’ i.e., abortion).”
A third group, Pathfinder International, received $5 million in PEPFAR funding from 2021 to 2023. Smith said the group “lobbies to weaken or eliminate pro-life laws in nations around the world” and is “explicit in its promotion of abortion in other countries, stating it is “committed to expanding access to … safe abortion.”
Biden’s administration was accused in December of pressuring the government of Sierra Leone to adopt more permissive abortion policies in exchange for foreign assistance. A report from the Daily Signal stated that The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. government-run funding allocator, was threatening to withhold hundreds of millions in foreign assistance funding if the nation didn’t relax its policies, a former senior U.S. government official told the outlet.
The MCC CEO Alice Albright signed an agreement with Sierra Leone’s finance minister, Sheku Bangura, in late September. The agreement called for the country to receive $480 million in foreign assistance so long as it met the MCC’s “rigorous standards for good governance, fighting corruption and respecting democratic rights.” The organization denied any effort to influence Sierra Leone’s abortion policies in a statement to Fox News Digital in December.
“The Millennium Challenge Corporation is unaware of any Sierra Leonean abortion legislation and has never made any requests to the Government of Sierra Leone regarding abortion policies. Any such legislation would be an internal matter for Sierra Leone with no U.S. government developments fund made contingent on its passage,” the organization said in a statement. Footage circulating on social media showed raucous pro-life protesters demonstrating inside Sierra Leone’s parliament at the time as lawmakers debated legislation detailing more permissive abortion rules.
You’re right!
I don’t trust Joni Ernst.
Just her comments in this article about foreign aid raises all kind of Red Flags for me!
Feeding peoples who are too stupid, lazy, or ignorant to feed themselves only ensures another even larger generation of people who are too stupid, lazy, or ignorant to feed themselves.
After the fact...she didn’t do anything about it at the time. Trump and Elon ARE.
Laugh Break
USAID’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) is based on the foundational demand expressed by Ukrainians during the Revolution of Dignity that they should live in an independent, democratic, prosperous, and healthy Ukraine united around core European values.
“’We are pursuing every action that we think we can do,’ Democratic Washington Sen. Patty Murray said during a press conference Monday afternoon. ‘But I will tell you this: we are here to pull the fire alarm. We are pulling the fire alarm.’”:
Same metaphor Schumer has been using recently (https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/leader-schumer-floor-remarks-sounding-the-alarm-on-the-reckless-and-lawless-actions-president-trump-is-taking-against-american-families), and previously used to refer to anti-Semitism (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/top-us-senate-democrat-chuck-schumer-warns-against-surge-antisemitism-2023-11-29/). And what anti-Semite DSA member Jamaal Bowman literally did. Sounds like a dog whistle to Antifa. Schumer was directly involved in both the J6 coup and pressuring Biden to step down. His history of threats against the executive and judicial branches needs to be investigated and prosecuted.
Watch Trump recess congress.
as with all social media, FR is not immune to influence ops/nudge brigade stuff.
see if some names drop out once the money dries up from this agency. in the context of USAID, we can guess which side of most issues they will have been on.
The flak is heaviest over the target.
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