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Committee Hearing on USAID Splits Along Partisan Lines over Waste, Transparency and Censorship Claims
Summary
Witnesses and senators debated USAID's spending priorities, alleged censorship and the administration's pause in funding. Republicans called for audits and cuts to programs they described as wasteful; Democrats warned of legal and humanitarian consequences and the loss of inspector-general oversight.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing Feb. 5 on foreign assistance and transparency at the U.S. Agency for International Development, with testimony from two outside scholars and extended debate among committee members about alleged waste, censorship and the legality of recent administrative actions.
Chairman Rand Paul opened the hearing by saying the session would "dive into reckless and wasteful spending of our federal government, particularly when it comes to foreign aid," and argued the United States should not be "the sugar daddy for the entire world" while carrying large national debt. He and several Republican senators cited alleged examples of USAID grants they characterized as frivolous or politically driven and urged a comprehensive audit.
Michael Shellenberger, an author and journalist who testified, criticized USAID for what he described as funding "information control and information…
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