Panelists on Morning Joe raised concerns Monday morning about the lack of a unified response from Democrats in Congress following the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and State Department’s audit of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The agency, which has overseen billions in foreign aid spending, has been under scrutiny for funneling taxpayer dollars into projects that do not align with U.S. foreign policy priorities.
On Friday night, representatives from DOGE and the State Department arrived at USAID headquarters to review the agency’s financial records after what ABC News described as a brief standoff with USAID employees.
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The audit follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, requiring a full review of foreign aid spending.
MSNBC host Ali Vitali and panelist Jonathan Lemire questioned whether Democrats or Congress as a whole would push back against what they described as an effort to dismantle USAID.
“So, Ali, the question is, is the other branch of government going to do anything?” Lemire asked.
“Elon Musk said over the weekend, well — I’m paraphrasing here — but more or less said, it’s easy to get work done when your opponents take the weekend off. And we have seen, first of all, a lack of cohesive response of Democrats, who seem a little slow here on most issues, but also Republicans who do have majorities, who do have the ability to say, look, actually, these programs have been in place for decades,” Lemire continued.
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“They’ve had bipartisan support. There are even national security reasons to keep them going. But yet so far, they seem completely muted and afraid to stand up to [President Donald] Trump and Musk. Is there any way that changes?”
Vitali responded by pointing out the shift in Congressional oversight over foreign aid distribution.
“We started the program talking about how when power is given, people don’t just willfully give it back. And yet we’re watching in Congress the very central power of the purse that Congress has had forever. They’re now seemingly OK, especially the majority party, with giving it over to the White House and the Trump Administration on this,” Vitali said.
She also referenced a discussion on X, formerly Twitter, where Elon Musk and Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa criticized USAID’s transparency and spending practices.
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“Elon Musk went on X overnight, did a Spaces held court online. And with him was Senator Joni Ernst, who was effectively backing him up when he said that he wanted to get rid of USAID,” Vitali added.
“She made the point that she said we want to help starving children effectively in other countries, but that they’re afraid the money is not going where it’s supposed to be going.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the decision to investigate USAID’s activities, citing longstanding concerns over mismanagement and a lack of oversight.
“The attitude that USAID has adopted over the years is ‘no, we are independent of the national interests, we fund programs irrespective of whether it is aligned or not aligned with the foreign policy,’” Rubio said Monday while visiting El Salvador.
He described the agency as “completely uncooperative” when efforts were made to examine its use of taxpayer funds.
“We’re spending taxpayer money here, these are not donor dollars, these are taxpayer dollars,” Rubio emphasized.
During her conversation with Musk, Ernst claimed that USAID officials threatened her when she attempted to investigate foreign aid sent to Ukraine.
“This began years ago, when we were trying to figure out what they were doing with our American taxpayer dollars that were going to support humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. So, I wanted to know exactly how those dollars were being spent… But we got all kinds of threats from USAID because I was trying to exercise my oversight capacity in Congress,” Ernst said.
Elon Musk on threats made by USAID to U.S. Senator Joni Ernst: “It’s outrageous that a taxpayer-funded organization would threaten a U.S. Senator who is simply trying to figure out if American taxpayer money is being spent correctly and not fraudulently”
— America (@america) February 3, 2025
A December 2023 letter from Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona to USAID sought additional details on funding sent to EcoHealth Alliance, which was reportedly involved in gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China. USAID provided at least $14 million to the organization, according to Gosar’s inquiry.
Among the projects frozen by Trump’s executive order was a $50 million grant to Gaza for condom distribution, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who discussed the matter during a Jan. 29 briefing.
🚨BREAKING: DOGE and OMB (Office of Management and Budget) found that the Biden admin was about to send $37M to the World Health Organization and $50M to fund condoms for Gaza. pic.twitter.com/u0gtiLQbwX
— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) January 28, 2025
USAID has also faced criticism for its funding of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), an investigative outlet that played a role in reporting related to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Trump’s first impeachment.
Additional USAID expenditures have drawn scrutiny, including a $45 million grant to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) scholarships in Burma and $21 million allocated for renewable electricity projects in Lebanon, as reported by The Washington Times.
As the audit continues, congressional Republicans and administration officials are expected to provide further details on the agency’s future.
Democrats, meanwhile, remain divided on how to respond, with some pushing back against the review and others calling for greater transparency in USAID’s spending.
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