During his years in the U.S. Senate, now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio was a strong supporter of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) — which he viewed as a valuable asset from a foreign policy standpoint. Rubio and Senate Democrats had plenty of disagreements, but they agreed that foreign aid via USAID did a lot to advance the United States’ interests abroad.
But now, USAID is a major target of the Trump Administration and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Experiencing mass layoffs, USAID is being gutted by MAGA Republicans. Axios reported that 92 percent of foreign assistance grants were being “axed.”
According to NOTUS reporter Haley Byrd Wilt, spending Rubio approved as secretary of state was blocked by DOGE staffers. And some GOP lawmakers are crying foul.
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Wilt, in an article published on February 27, reports, “Republicans love Elon Musk’s plans to slash government spending, but they’re not quite as thrilled at how a set of unelected bureaucrats is carrying it out — or how those new staffers are defying Senate-confirmed Cabinet secretaries in the process. When Secretary of State Marco Rubio approved foreign aid programs he deemed critical to American interests, two Department of Government Efficiency employees canceled the spending instead. The Washington Post reported that those DOGE employees have access to the payment system and manually blocked the funding, including money for Ukraine and HIV treatment programs — prompting pushback from Republicans on Capitol Hill.”
One of the GOP lawmakers who is speaking out is Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tennessee).
Burchett told NOTUS, “I have problems with that. I have problems that they have access to that. If it was a mistake, I get it. But if it wasn’t, they need to be fired.”
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) isn’t happy either.
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The conservative senator told NOTUS that when it comes to the U.S. State Department, “I consider Marco Rubio to be the head chef.” And Tillis described the DOGE block on funding Rubio approved as “a natural consequence of a lot of cooks in the kitchen.”
Tillis argued, “Now that Marco is confirmed and in place, there should be nobody in the (Trump) Administration — outside of the president of the United States or at the direction of the president — that should pause, delay or cancel anything Marco thinks is in our best national interest.”
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Read the full NOTUS article at this link.
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28/02/2025 at 12:25 AM
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