OPINION:
Thirty years ago, The Heritage Foundation penned a piece titled, “Abolish the Wasteful Agency for International Development,” arguing that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) had failed miserably on its core mission to promote economic development at overseas spots, and instead had become a cesspool of waste and corruption and more waste.
That was 1995. Now it’s 2025, and not much has changed. In fact, if anything, USAID has grown even worse.
According to USASpending.gov, taxpayers have shelled out billions upon billions upon multiple billions of dollars through the years — specifically, $37.5 billion in fiscal 2021; more than $47.76 billion in fiscal 2022; more than $50 billion in fiscal 2023; almost $44.2 billion in fiscal 2024; and so far, for fiscal 2025, another $22.58 billion. That last one has been stopped — thankfully.
USAID is fraught with mismanagement leading to poor fiscal decisions.
“A 2019 report that surveyed three years of USAID spending found that 43 percent of the agency’s awards achieved, on average, just half of their intended results,” Foreign Policy wrote in May of 2021.
When such terrible outcomes?
Chalk it up to bureaucracy.
“USAID spends so inefficiently because every year the agency needs to move more than $20 billion to projects worldwide. It has become dependent on funneling hundreds of millions, sometimes billions, of dollars to mammoth government contractors,” Foreign Policy wrote.
It’s not unusual then for a few million here, a few million there to fall by the wayside of accountability. Soon enough, those millions turn into billions.
USAID needs a serious injection of accountability and oversight, followed by never-ending transparency.
Unfortunately, the larger agencies grow, the more challenging it becomes to dig deep into where the money goes. It’s not easy to conduct a line-by-line analysis of USAID’s outpouring of money to foreign entities. It’s an accounting nightmare — particularly if those in charge of the disbursements don’t want the recipients known.
“There is a plethora of reports of waste, mismanagement, corruption and inappropriate projects and technologies” alleged by critics of USAID, digital library JSTOR.org wrote in 1996.
Yes. USAID, perhaps like few other government agencies, is a true one-hand-washes-the-other stop for politicians who deal in favors.
And it’s not that previous administrations and Congresses haven’t seen the fraud and waste. It’s just that President Trump’s administration is the only one in decades to be possessed of the political will and determination to do something about it.
“Trump allies have called USAID corrupt and left-wing,” and now they’re “freezing the agency’s funds and putting officials on administrative leave,” News18.com reported.
“Elon Musk says he and Trump are shutting down USAID,” NBC News wrote.
“USAID closes HQ to staffers Monday as Musk says Trump supports shutting agency down,” Fox News wrote.
Democrats, globalists, leftist, perpetual welfare recipients and governments of the world will decry the shuttering of USAID, claiming that the poor and despondent will now grow even poorer and possibly, quite possibly, die. But even John F. Kennedy, who introduced USAID to the American scene, never intended it to be a permanent place of economic handouts.
“[It] never was intended to make the developing world dependent on international welfare,” Heritage wrote.
Moreover, it’s not as if USAID is the only venue to give out assistance to other countries. America’s other agencies all have humanitarian and foreign assistance built into their models; the U.S. State Department is funded to spark democratic moves around the world in exchange for financial aid.
On top of that, America’s corporate structures regularly donate to charities, both domestic and foreign; and American citizens themselves are the most generous in coughing up personal household aid for those facing tough times — again, both domestic and foreign.
Shutting USAID’s doors won’t put much of a ding in how America helps others. It will, however, put a stop to those who seek to exploit USAID funds for political and personal purposes, and It will, however, flood the agency with a light of accountability that has been so long lacking. That, undoubtedly, is why the left is so up in arms.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “God-Given Or Bust: Defeating Marxism and Saving America With Biblical Truths,” is available by clicking HERE.
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