reSee.it - Related Video Feed

The President of the United States is in charge of the government. He appoints advisors, like Elon Musk and others at the White House, to execute his commands across federal agencies. Recently, Elon Musk claimed transparency at Doge, stating their actions are posted on X and their website. Regarding the termination and subsequent rescinding of 300 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Secretary of Energy would be responsible for those decisions. Under President Trump, the goal is accountability and transparency in federal spending. For example, where did the $22 billion that the Department of Health and Human Services provided to illegal aliens go? That's enough to provide a free house to every homeless veteran in America.

The President issued executive orders to pause funding for various initiatives, including diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, critical race theory, radical gender ideology, sex changes for minors, foreign aid, certain Green New Deal projects, and the resettlement of illegal aliens. This funding is categorized as discretionary agency-directed spending, which is not mandated by law or Congress.

We've stopped the $8,000,000 in taxpayer subsidies for Politico subscriptions. The team is working to cancel the payments immediately. Large organizations inevitably miss things. Claims of widespread waste and abuse haven't been substantiated with evidence. We haven't seen proof of the alleged misuse of funds.

In 2015, we announced initiatives that have led to significant savings. Recently, we clarified that Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid remain unaffected by our actions. We are targeting waste and fraud within the bureaucracy. Notably, we halted $50 million intended for Gaza, which was misused by Hamas. We also canceled $181 million in DEI training contracts and paused $170 million in unauthorized payments to foreign organizations, including over $40 million meant for the World Health Organization. Additionally, we blocked $45 million allocated for diversity scholarships in Burma.

Trump says the administration removed wasteful items from the budget, which upset Congresswoman Ocasio Cortez and the socialist wing of the Democratic Party. They took out items that existed under President Biden and are demanding they be put back in. Examples cited include: $3,000,000 for circumcision and vasectomies in Zambia; $500,000 of American taxpayer money for electric buses in Rwanda; $3,600,000 for pastry cooking classes and dance focus groups for male prostitutes in Haiti. I kid you not. $6,000,000 for media organizations for the Palestinians; $833,000 for transgender people in Nepal; $300,000 for a pride parade in Lesotho; $882,000 for social media and mentorship in Serbia; $4,200,000; $4,200,000 for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex people in the Western Balkans and Uganda. The congresswoman and the socialist wing threaten to shut down the government till we get this back in. The fight is about putting this back in the bill.

We identified and stopped $50 million intended for Gaza, which was meant to purchase condoms for Hamas but was instead used to create bombs. Additionally, we halted an illicit payment for illegal alien resettlement and canceled $181 million in DEI training contracts. We paused $1.7 billion in unauthorized payments to foreign organizations, including over $40 million to the World Health Organization, which has failed in its duties. Furthermore, we blocked $45 million allocated for diversity scholarships in Burma. These actions reflect our commitment to redirect funds to appropriate uses.

Elon Musk did not create USAID, and he cannot destroy it. We will stop him. Musk may have gained control over financial systems, but he does not control the American people's money. His actions threaten lives globally, impacting crucial programs like HIV and AIDS prevention and anti-malarial education. Regardless of Musk's intentions, they do not align with the laws established by Congress. We will defend USAID. Reports indicate that evaluations have been removed from the USAID website, jeopardizing major foreign aid programs totaling less than $40 billion, while the Pentagon budget is nearly $900 billion. Musk, who became wealthy from public funds, is attempting to undermine USAID, but we will not allow this to happen.

I work in a federally grant-funded position, and at our recent department meeting, we discussed the ongoing impact of the federal funding freeze. Despite a judge blocking the freeze, the administration isn't fully compliant, leading to continued grant cancellations and freezes across various sectors. The initial day the funding portals were blocked significantly disrupted the funding schedules for numerous organizations. Furthermore, many projects are stalled due to the required removal of DEI language. This necessitates extensive rewrites of proposals that have been in progress for months. Essentially, it's a way to impede funding without an outright freeze by making the process extremely difficult.

It's crucial for Americans to realize that foreign aid constitutes less than 1% of the national budget and is directed towards the most vulnerable populations globally. This funding is already allocated and cannot be redirected. Currently, Elon Musk, a billionaire with foreign interests, is attempting to undermine this support for the poorest people. He is not an elected official and lacks the authority to make such decisions. It's important to scrutinize his motives and the implications of his actions. Additionally, while this agency was established by an executive order, it was also funded by Congress in 1998, emphasizing that the executive branch cannot bypass congressional authority regarding resource allocation.

Democrats were invited to participate and bring witnesses, but they chose not to, likely because USAID's spending is indefensible, like $2 million for sex change surgeries in Guatemala and $3 million for girl-centric climate change initiatives. If USAID has unspent funds, can the President impound them? Auditing spending is essential oversight. We're uncovering waste, like $4.8 million for social media influencers in Ukraine. Forcing a social agenda, like LGBT issues, on conservative countries harms diplomacy. We're finding this waste because we have a president with the courage to oversee USAID. The CFO of FEMA was fired for spending $54 million on luxury hotels for illegal aliens. The Lincoln Riley's killer was put up in a luxury hotel in New York. Can the President impound funds, or should we rescind them through Congress? A pause in funding for an audit is just good government.

My team faced significant obstruction from USAID while trying to access records on taxpayer money. Partnering with Representative Mike McCall, we initiated a congressional investigation, but USAID only provided limited data. Our findings revealed excessive spending with minimal results. Notably, USAID funded the Wuhan Institute of Virology for dangerous coronaviruses, and also allocated money for pottery classes in Morocco and tourism in Lebanon, despite travel warnings from the State Department. There are numerous examples of questionable expenditures.

In just one week, over 350 executive actions were taken, including signing 300. The era of American decline is over, and a new golden age has begun. On day one, every cabinet member was directed to use their powers to combat inflation and reduce living costs. A federal hiring freeze, regulation freeze, and foreign aid freeze were imposed, reflecting a shift in priorities. The creation of a new department focused on Government Efficiency aims to enhance effectiveness. Additionally, the termination of the costly Green New Deal was announced, highlighting a commitment to eliminate wasteful spending.

For context, USAID has been around for more than sixty years with bipartisan support, earmarks in every budget, and a workforce of about 10 to 14,000 staff, plus roughly $40,000,000,000 in procurement each year. We read Project Twenty Twenty Five and felt somewhat prepared for this administration in some ways, but not in others. Ahead of the inauguration, the Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), which works in countries transitioning from authoritarian or wartime to more peaceful and structured governments, was a major player and had organized during the previous administration to respond to threats to U.S. democracy. Also notable to our group, including our gender and sexual minorities employee resource group, is that we had moved our group away from the USAID main systems into Signal chats to protect the community there. January 20, the inauguration, brought one of 200 executive orders to stop foreign assistance, creating a ninety-day pause on all funding. In addition, there were executive orders to stop DEI programming, which affected a large number of our awards immediately. In that first week, we experienced threatening emails across staff, a takeover of the DEIA, truth@opm.gov email address, which was unusual in its centralization to all government staff, and many staff under a particular hiring mechanism were immediately put on furlough or laid off. I am part of that hiring mechanism. Within that initial period, over the weekend, our senior staff, including our general counsel, were put on administrative leave. In response, we moved quickly to establish the USAID stop work order website and a Signal group, organized by a longtime implementing partner and strategic communications specialists. They moved immediately to begin gathering people, creating community, and collecting information. This is also when some of the first lawsuits began to be discussed. In the second weekend, additional Signal groups were stood up. USAID is an agency of about 10 to 14,000 people within the United States, and we have about 50,000 people who are hired into the ecosystem of awards and grants contracted by USAID. This community began gathering in Signal, especially as disinformation about USAID emerged from X (Elon Musk’s platform) and escalated attacks. In that second week after the administration, almost all USAID staff were put on administrative leave, including our ethics lawyers, our HR, and our security. DOES took over, and our buildings were closed. By February 5, we had our first large-scale protest organized, with several congressional leaders standing up with us along with agency leadership. Many developments followed, and I will discuss those next.

Biden's USAID has wasted taxpayer money on questionable projects: $1.5 million for DEI in Serbia, $2 million for sex changes in Guatemala, $6 million for tourism in Egypt, and $15 million for contraceptives in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. This spending is alarming for American taxpayers. President Trump aims to stop such funding, addressing issues like USAID's support for Hamas. The urgency for change has never been clearer, especially after blocking funds that could aid terrorism. The backlash from Democrats and media against figures like Elon Musk shows their discomfort with these reforms. Musk's efforts align with Trump's mission to eliminate wasteful spending and restore accountability in government.

As a senator, I'm concerned about USAID's lack of transparency with taxpayer dollars. Examples include funding for a Wuhan lab, Iraqi Sesame Street, and fashion weeks in Europe. My TRACS Act aims to disclose every grant recipient to prevent funds from going to adversaries. The fact that the US government funded the creation of the virus that caused the global pandemic is incredible. It is terrible for people to believe charitable support is tied to political manipulation, so we need a firewall between genuine aid and CIA/State Department activities. It is an all American commitment to not letting the state be abused for political reasons. The focus should be on transparency, accountability, and clarity in our interactions with the world. We need to identify the waste, fraud within our federal government, and get those reforms over the finish line.

Let's put aside the fear mongering. No one in the Trump administration has advocated using Social Security money for other purposes. However, there are real questions about spending. The other side calls funding pauses illegal, but pausing spending for a month isn't impoundment. This is a separation of powers issue. I voted against repurposing money for the wall. When money was stopped at USAID, $2,000,000 was found for sex changes in Guatemala. Should a president be able to execute their policy? The bureaucracy is unmovable and skewed towards spending more. Should we spend millions on things like girl-centric climate change in Brazil or microaggressions among obese Latinx individuals? Scrutiny is good. I want the discovery of waste to lead to permanent change. The minority party likely won't want to cut funding for things like sex changes in Guatemala. If we can save money, like $200,000,000 on an aircraft carrier, we should do a rescission package and fill our $2,000,000,000,000 deficit.

USAID has been a slush fund for left-wing projects globally, including gender surgeries, DEI policies, and climate initiatives. Billions of dollars funded NGOs, which infiltrated corporations and the public sector. This fueled resettlement of illegal immigrants, promoted equity policies, and advanced radical gender agendas. This massive left-wing power structure, including the media, wasn't organic; it was taxpayer-funded. The outcry against President Trump's cuts to USAID funding stems from this. He's cutting off the funding to organizations that harm America.

We are halting all grant funding to NGOs that facilitate illegal immigration. Millions of taxpayer dollars have been misused to support this issue, and we are reevaluating how these funds are spent to ensure they strengthen our country and enhance safety. Many NGOs operate not only in the U.S. but also in Mexico, encouraging illegal immigrants to cross the border. Initially, I viewed NGOs as charitable organizations, but I've come to see that some function as shadow governments, using taxpayer money for actions the federal government cannot legally undertake. This has compromised our national security, and we will no longer support these operations with federal funding.

Under president Biden, they were spending $3,000,000 for circumcisions and vasectomies in Zambia; we took that out. The congresswoman says, we're gonna shut down government till you put that back in. We found $500,000 for electric buses in Rwanda and $3,600,000 for pastry cooking classes and dance focus groups for male prostitutes in Haiti—again, we took it out. Ocasio Cortez and the socialist wing of the Democratic Party say we gotta put these back in or shut the government down. They demand: $6,000,000 for media organizations for the Palestinians; $833,000 for transgender people in Nepal; $4,200,000 for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex people in the Western Balkans and Uganda. We took all that out; it upsets Ocasio Cortez, and they threaten all other Democrats to shut down the government till they get what they want.

The U.S. is reassessing its foreign aid programs, especially in light of transparency issues with USAID, where only a small percentage of funds reach their intended recipients. A 90-day freeze on aid allows for this review. The focus will be on ensuring that aid benefits U.S. national interests and supports trusted allies, like Costa Rica, which effectively uses aid to combat drugs and terrorism. While some programs may be questioned, waivers will be issued to prevent immediate harm. The goal is to ensure taxpayer money is spent wisely and effectively, enhancing U.S. strength and security.

A judge ruled that $2 billion in foreign aid payments to USAID contractors and nonprofits cannot be blocked, despite Trump's executive order to slash $60 billion in foreign aid spending. This decision has sparked controversy, with accusations that the judge, a recent Biden appointee, overstepped his authority and is setting foreign policy. It's argued that the president has the constitutional power to freeze funds for foreign policy, national security, or to avoid waste. Some believe this ruling is judicial activism and will eventually be overturned by the Supreme Court, but by then the money will be spent and unrecoverable. A recent Supreme Court vote disappointed many.

We're announcing that we've halted all grant funding to NGOs that facilitate illegal immigration. It's shocking how much federal money has been misused in this way. I've taken action to reevaluate these funds to ensure taxpayer dollars are used to strengthen our country and keep it safe. We need to scrutinize how federal grants are utilized. No more money will be spent to undermine our nation. We will uphold President Trump's commitment to secure our border, remove those here illegally, and ensure taxpayer funds are not used to support this situation.

There is confusion regarding the impact of a sweeping order on public benefit programs, which remains unaffected, as clarified by OMB. The federal workforce, consisting of 2 million employees, is predominantly left-leaning, as evidenced by donations to candidates like Kamala Harris. This raises concerns about bias. The American people voted for significant change with Donald Trump, who needs to gain control over government spending, particularly discretionary grants not directed by Congress. These funds could be used for projects like unnecessary constructions or funding studies abroad. It’s crucial for political appointees to review these expenditures to ensure accountability, despite any misleading reports from left-wing media.

Secretary: Today, we are announcing that we have stopped all grant funding that's being abused by NGOs to facilitate illegal immigration into this country. It's amazing to me the hundreds of millions of dollars that have been spent by the federal government that has been sent to NGOs to facilitate this invasion of our country. I have taken action to stop that funding, to reevaluate it, and to make sure that we're actually using taxpayer dollars in a way that strengthens this country and keeps us safe. People are curious how grants given out by federal agencies are utilized, and that evaluation needs to be done. We're not spending another dime to help the destruction of this country. We're going to follow through on what president Trump promised, to secure our border, depart those who are here illegally and committing criminal actions, and ensure taxpayer dollars aren't spent to assist it. Speaker: And, Madam Secretary, I don't think people fully understand the role that NGOs play in facilitating illegal immigration. I want to share these numbers up on the screen: we spend over $380,000,000 in 2024 for sheltering and service programs for illegal immigrants. But the vast network of NGOs that help facilitate it through Panama, through Mexico, and make it a landing spot here in the United States is a massive contributor to illegal immigration. So what you're telling us today is that now stops? At least the federal funding of that stops? Secretary: Yes. The Department of Homeland Security has stopped spending those dollars to fund those NGOs. What’s been revealing is that many of these NGOs actually have infrastructure and operations set up in Mexico on that side of the border, telling illegal immigrants to come to them, and they will get them across the border. So they're not just operating in the United States. They're operating outside of the United States to help make it easier for those who want to break our laws. And while I was one of those Americans years ago when somebody said NGO to me, I thought, oh, that's amazing—a nonprofit telling somebody about Jesus or spreading faith and charitable work, helping people less fortunate. Then I realized over the years it's been perverted into this shadow government. An NGO is sometimes an operation that does things the government cannot do, can't legally do, so they create an entity to use government dollars, taxpayer dollars, to do something that the federal government isn't allowed to do—to perform a shadow government operation that has recently been used to undermine our country's national security.

USAID, initially created by Kennedy, has become a front for a far-left agenda, marked by wasteful spending and anti-American priorities. Democrats show no concern over this misuse of funds, which makes me believe there is an attempt to conceal the corruption. Trump's attempt to pause this spending was met with cries of a constitutional crisis. Many USAID programs undermine diplomatic relationships by pushing woke ideology, as seen with PEPFAR, where the Biden administration jeopardized lives by imposing abortion agendas on African nations. Those complicit in this betrayal should be fired. Also, it's false that Elon Musk, who has a top-secret clearance for his work with NASA, has access to personal data. Finally, it's offensive to dismiss the capabilities of young people serving our country. Their service matters and should be respected.