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House Foreign Affairs subcommittee warns State Department cuts risk gutting democracy programs
Summary
Members of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and witnesses urged Congress to resist State Department cuts and a proposed reorganization they say would dilute the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor’s ability to support activists and monitor abuses worldwide.
At a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing, members and three former and current foreign‑policy officials warned that proposed State Department budget cuts and a reorganization risk eliminating core democracy and human‑rights programs and reducing U.S. support for activists living under authoritarian regimes.
The hearing focused on the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) and related foreign‑assistance programs, including grants implemented by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI). Witnesses and members described terminations of many active grants and raised concerns that moving grant authority into regional bureaus would dilute human‑rights oversight.
“The administration has already effectively ended USAID’s and hundreds of foreign assistance programs established by law,” Ranking Member Castro said, arguing the changes were not a neutral review but “sabotage.”…
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