Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) introduced a bill on Tuesday to abolish the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) over concerns it’s using taxpayer dollars to spread “wokeism” abroad.
In a press release, Gaetz cited a Heritage Foundation report from last year that revealed the agency is using American taxpayer dollars to fund “leftist activism” abroad. Under the legislation, first reported by the Daily Caller, no federal funds would be “made available” to the agency, which would force it to cease carrying out its delegated responsibilities.
“American taxpayer dollars are being wasted to fund radical leftist propaganda in foreign countries,” Gaetz said in the press release. “The American people will not tolerate government-funded degeneracy at home, and we certainly will not accept its force-feeding abroad under Old Glory.”
“USAID does not serve a meaningful purpose,” he added. “It is used as a slush fund for international wokeism. Therefore, serious lawmakers in Congress should support its complete abolition.”
Along with no federal funds going to the agency, the bill would “rescind the unobligated funds made available for the agency and transfer all other assets or liabilities to the Secretary of State,” according to the press release.
The bill, co-sponsored by Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Eli Crane (R-AZ), and Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), cites numerous examples of USAID pushing “leftist ideology.” It accuses the agency of “meddl[ing] in local elections” and says it “undermine[s] foreign governments who do not adhere to the perverse ideology [USAID] espouses.”
The agency has also used tax dollars to provide grants to various leftist causes, including $850,000 that went toward “the rights of gender diverse people” in Bangladesh, a $1 million grant for ‘‘LGBTI human rights advocacy in Asia,’’ and a $370,000 grant for ‘‘the human rights of LGBTI people in Armenian society,” according to the legislation.
“The United States, in dealings with allies and adversaries, should engage in diplomacy and international relations that do not undermine the culture or tradition of other nations and peoples, but instead seek to develop working and friendly relationships relative to the interests of both parties with United States citizens chiefly in mind,” the bill reads.
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In April, it was revealed that USAID planned to contribute up to $50 million to promote “digital gender equality” in Africa and around the world in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Daily Wire previously reported.
The Heritage Foundation report said the Biden administration “weaponizes” foreign aid by funding and promoting “climate alarmism,” gender ideology, and abortion.
In a post to X on Tuesday, Gaetz touted the bill as a “way to cut spending.”
USAID is an independent federal agency and is the “world’s premier international development agency” working to advance American national security, promote global health, provide humanitarian assistance, and “support global stability,” according to its website. It was founded in 1961 by an executive order signed by President John F. Kennedy.