WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, led several of the Committee’s Democratic members in sounding the alarm about President Trump and Elon Musk’s unlawful and unconstitutional power grab to shutter the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Democrats raised concerns that if the illegal takeover of USAID is allowed to stand – that President Trump and Musk will be unchecked in their unlawful efforts to eliminate additional agencies that the American people count on, including agencies that provide services for seniors and children, federal disaster relief, protect our homeland security and more.
“I certainly agree that this Committee should conduct rigorous oversight of federal spending – including wasteful foreign aid – and we should always be working to sort out and eliminate waste and fraud in all federal programs, in fact this Committee has done that for years on a bipartisan basis, that’s a big part of what we do every week as we come together to consider legislation and deal with the tough issues that we face as a country,” said Senator Peters in his opening statement. “But today’s hearing – I’m sure we’re going to hear many of our colleagues on the other side of the dais, my Republican colleagues here, cheer on President Trump and his cronies like Elon Musk in their illegal and unconstitutional efforts to cut off foreign aid – it is not only a sham, I think it really misses the point on what this Administration is really doing and how far President Trump will go to hurt American families so that they can pay for tax cuts for billionaires.”
Peters continued: “That’s why my Democratic colleagues and I are most concerned about is what agency, what federal program, will be the next domino to fall, after USAID? What’s going to be next on the chopping block? President Trump has already directed his cronies to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Will they halt Social Security payments that seniors count on next? Will they stop Medicare reimbursements and prevent seniors from accessing critical health care? Will they block disaster aid from states that have suffered from hurricanes and wildfires? Well, I’ll tell you, President Trump and his cronies have already hinted on all of those resources that Americans count on – and more – could be shut down going forward. And it’s not just that it’s illegal. It’s not just that it violates the separation of powers. The bottom line is that these actions hurt American families – and it’s our job to fight back.”
U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) pointed out the contradictions in President Trump and Elon Musk’s actions that are allegedly meant to identify waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars. Instead, as Blumenthal noted, shutting down USAID is wasting taxpayer dollars and harming American farmers who grow the crops that feed the world.
“In shuttering USAID, President Trump is pulling billions of dollars away from American farmers without apparently a second thought – that’s a lot of harm, a lot of waste, a lot of abuse – to people who are the backbone of food production in this nation,” said Senator Blumenthal. “Already a lot of their labor, investment and produce is going to waste as a result of the Musk power grab, slash, and trash agencies in the name of eliminating waste fraud and abuse, but in fact creating it and profiting it from it. Elon Musk is giving America the middle finger, seizing power, engaging in the biggest heists of information in America’s history, delving into agencies and destroying them when his own corporations profit from contracts with them, and controlling contracts in the future that will benefit his corporations – that’s waste and fraud.”
Hassan called attention to President Trump’s recent dismissal of 18 Inspectors General, the independent watchdogs who are responsible for identifying waste, fraud, and misconduct in federal programs – most recently the Inspector General for USAID. Trump also dismissed the head of the Office of Government Ethics, who is charged with preventing conflicts of interests among officials in the federal government.
“If this committee and President Trump, though, actually wanted to reduce waste and fraud, they would work together to support and bolster Inspectors General. Inspectors General are indispensable watchdogs who identify multimillion dollar overpayments to big corporations – exactly what Elon Musk claims he wants to root out,” said Senator Hassan. “Instead, just days into his administration, President Trump illegally fired at least 17 Inspectors General in a move to silence those who would provide accountability and oversight over his administration.”
U.S. Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) discussed how dismantling USAID will undercut the United States’ standing around the world. Kim previously served at USAID under President George W. Bush.
“When I heard today people talking about USAID as if it’s charity, one person that said, quote ‘foreign aid is not charity. We must make sure it is well spent but is less than 1% of the budget and critical to our national security.’ The person who said that is Secretary of State Marco Rubio, when he was with us in the Senate,” said Senator Kim. “He also went on to say that he urged President Biden to move forward, prioritize USAID funding, because he said it quote ‘counters the Chinese Communist Party’s expanding global influence.’ And our current Secretary of State also said, quote, ‘we don’t have to give foreign aid. We do so because it furthers our national interests.”
“When I hear from leaders in other countries they say, ‘what is the value of the American handshake right now?’ And I think that that has been detrimentally affected and really negatively affected over the course of the last couple weeks,” Senator Kim continued.
Throughout the hearing, Senator Peters and his colleagues raised concerns that if Republicans in Congress fail to join Democrats and stand up to President Trump and Elon Musk’s illegal power grab, President Trump will be emboldened to further undermine the Constitution and could target programs that will hit Americans much harder, including:
- Meals on Wheels that helps feed seniors;
- Health care services for veterans;
- Early childhood education and nutrition;
- Disaster relief and recovery resources;
- Lifesaving cancer research; and
- Efforts to prevent terrorist attacks.
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