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FIRST ON FOX: The Senate chair of the DOGE Caucus is exposing a "demonstrated pattern of obstructionism" at the U.S.' top aid agency in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, outlined how the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been "stonewalling" her office for years as she sought documents to ensure taxpayer dollars weren't wasted at the agency, which is now under the microscope of billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
"USAID’s spending shows a blatant disregard for the wishes of American taxpayers, and it is time to disrupt the system," Ernst told Fox News Digital. "The agency has been wasting millions of tax dollars on things like tourism in Lebanon, Sesame Street in Iraq, sending Ukrainians to Paris Fashion Week and so much more."
In one instance, the Iowa Republican claims USAID misled her staff to believe that details about funds going to businesses in Ukraine were classified, funds that in some instances were used for travel to fashion shows and film festivals.
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In 2024, after months of delays, USAID finally agreed to offer Ernst's staff a review of recipients of taxpayer-funded assistance to businesses in Ukraine, according to the letter.
But the agency insisted the documents be reviewed in a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF), suggesting the records would be classified.
"These requirements were all presented to my staff under the false pretense that this data was classified," Ernst wrote to Rubio. "Only after demanding to speak to your USAID Office of Security, my staff uncovered that this data was, in fact, unclassified."
Ernst said that based on her staff’s review, it appears that over 5,000 Ukrainian businesses received U.S. taxpayer-funded assistance, with awards of up to $2 million each.
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That trade assistance was in some instances used to bankroll business owners attending glamorous film festivals and fashion shows in cities like Berlin, Paris and Las Vegas.
She also accused the agency of "misleading" her office on the costs of indirect aid. Negotiated indirect cost agreements (NICRA) allowed contractors to use more than 25 percent of the total award on costs like "rent for a partner’s corporate headquarters, advocacy costs, and other miscellaneous expenses."
Ernst said her staff reached out in November 2022 asking USAID for information on NICRAs with grant recipients. The agency responded, "USAID does not have a system to track or report on this data, as it is not possible to compare indirect costs between for-profit and nonprofit organizations," according to Ernst.
In February 2023, Ernst followed up with a link to a publicly reported NICRA database that USAID confirmed does exist.
The agency then said that it "protects the confidential business information of its implementing partners, including NICRAs… outside the scope of a formal oversight request by a committee of jurisdiction."
Then, Ernst partnered with former House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul to give USAID the request from a "committee of jurisdiction."
"Even then, USAID refused to permit my staff to acquire the documents or take substantive notes on the NICRA rates. The lack of transparency was alarming because the NICRA rates far exceeded staff’s expected range of indirect costs allowed."
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Ernst said: "In the wake of this series of significant misjudgments and oversight obstruction by USAID, it is of the utmost importance to conduct a full and independent analysis of the recipients of USAID assistance."
She also pointed to Chemonics, a government contractor that USAID’s inspector general found over-billed the U.S. government by $270 million through fiscal year 2019. Chemonics led a $9.5 billion USAID project to improve global health supply chains that, "led to 41 arrests and 31 indictments related to illicit resale of USAID funded commodities on the black market, and fueled ongoing allegations that Chemonics falsely portrays its projects’ outcomes to secure future contracts with USAID," Ernst wrote.
"No more stonewalling," said Ernst. "We need to scrutinize every last dollar being spent by this rogue agency."
In a notice posted on its website Tuesday night, USAID announced that all direct hire staff would be placed on leave globally, except for designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs.
The Trump administration is now exploring merging the agency with the State Department and Rubio has been appointed its acting director.
Rubio told reporters in El Salvador the "functions of USAID" must align with foreign policy and called it a "a completely unresponsive agency."
Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, staged a protest outside the USAID headquarters on Tuesday, arguing that the agency is essential for flexing U.S. soft power throughout the world, preventing and monitoring disease outbreaks, and safeguarding U.S. national security.
"USAID is the backbone of America’s soft power, helping to stabilize fragile regions and protect U.S. interests abroad," said Reps. Greg Meeks, top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sara Jacobs,Calif., top Democrat on the Africa subcommittee.
"Weakening it will fuel global crises, endanger American security, embolden other nations like China and Russia, and leave the Trump Administration solely responsible for the fallout."
