This week, the subcommittee I chair focusing on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs held a hearing. The focus was on evaluating the Biden Administration’s mishandling of the distribution of U.S. foreign aid, lacking accountability measures and vetting controls, and the weaponization of the aid to force countries to adapt to the Administration’s extreme agenda.
During this hearing I highlighted the need for mechanisms to oversee how American taxpayer dollars are being spent on foreign assistance. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department lack comprehensive accountability mechanisms for tracking foreign support once it departs the United States. Contractors and grantees are rarely vetted to make sure foreign assistance is not ending up in the hands of bad actors. The U.S. is over $34 trillion in debt and it is unacceptable that we are sending money oversees without sufficient safeguards.
We also cannot continue to ignore the allegations of political abuse surrounding the Biden Administration's use of foreign aid. Our current aid distribution apparatus has been used by the Biden Administration to pour taxpayer dollars into foreign countries and international organizations that support the administration’s radical agenda overseas. Most concerning is that the Administration sometimes conditions receipt of the aid on whether the country follows the Biden Administration’s extreme social policies.
Oversight of foreign assistance is not merely a matter of fiscal responsibility, but a
reflection of U.S. strategic goals. Through this hearing my colleagues and I gained valuable insight to end this misuse of taxpayer money.
