'Sesame Street in Iraq': USAID's 'wasteful and dangerous' spending exposed by senator

Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst published a database of projects and programs she says the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has helped money crossed the years, highlighting it arsenic "wasteful and dangerous" spending that has gripped taxpayers until the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) stepped in. 

"From funneling taxation dollars to risky research successful Wuhan to sending Ukrainians to Paris Fashion Week, USAID is one of the worst offenders of discarded successful Washington… each astir the world," Ernst posted to X connected Monday earlier rattling disconnected a fistful of examples. 

Ernst highlighted that the bureau "authorized a whopping $20 cardinal to make a Sesame Street successful Iraq." 

Under the Biden administration, USAID awarded $20 cardinal to a nonprofit called Sesame Workshop to nutrient a amusement called "Ahlan Simsim Iraq" successful an effort to "promote inclusion, communal respect, and knowing crossed ethnic, religious, and sectarian groups." 

"As Iraq recovers from years of conflict, communities conflict to find a caller consciousness of normalcy portion carnal and affectional wounds remain," an archived nexus to USAID's website reads. "The bequest of Iraq’s struggle with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) near galore children without a unchangeable location oregon displaced, particularly those from Iraq’s taste and spiritual minorities. Additionally, Iraqi youth, who marque up implicit fractional of the population, are incapable to find jobs successful an system strained by warfare and corruption, creating vulnerabilities to radicalization." 

USAID's website unopen down this week arsenic DOGE and tech billionaire Elon Musk enactment the bureau nether its microscope. 

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The amusement is styled similar the American kids' amusement "Sesame Street," pictured here, and was granted backing that began successful 2021 and runs until 2027, according to an archived USAID website (Getty Images)

The amusement is styled similar the American kids' amusement "Sesame Street," and was granted backing that began successful 2021 and runs until 2027, according to the achieved website. The amusement continues to aerial successful the Middle East, a reappraisal of its website shows. 

In different illustration Ernst highlighted, USAID was recovered to person provided millions of dollars to farmers successful Afghanistan successful an effort to get them to turn nutrient alternatively of poppy fields and opium. 

The plan, however, backfired and led to an summation successful poppy production, and frankincense opium production, during the warfare successful Afghanistan. 

"During the tallness of the warfare successful Afghanistan, USAID spent millions of dollars to assistance Afghans turn crops alternatively of opium," Ernst posted to X Monday. "The results: opium poppy cultivation crossed the state astir doubled, according to the UN." 

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USAID, arsenic good arsenic the U.S. military, paid farmers to physique oregon rehab miles of irrigation canals successful the Helmand province, Afghanistan, during the Obama medication successful an effort to transportation the farmers to turn fruits and different plants, the Washington Post reported successful 2019. The farmers, however, utilized the canals to turn poppies. 

Poppy accumulation astir doubled during the Afghan warfare contempt U.S. efforts to curb its growth. (Getty images)

Poppy accumulation astir doubled successful the portion betwixt 2010 and 2014, the Post reported, citing U.N. figures. 

In different example, Ernst said USAID spent $2 cardinal to money "Moroccan pottery classes and promotion." Morocco has for thousands of years created pottery, dating backmost to 6,000 B.C.  

Former Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, who died successful 2020, published a government "waste book" successful 2012 detailing that USAID "began pursuing a 4 twelvemonth program to amended the economical competitiveness of Morocco" opening successful 2009, which included $27 cardinal successful funding. 

A information of the backing was directed to a programme that "involved grooming Moroccans to make and plan pottery to merchantability successful home and planetary markets," according to the report. 

Morocco has for thousands of years created pottery, dating backmost to 6,000 B.C. (Jorge Fernández/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The American pottery teacher hired to thatch section artists, however, was incapable to pass with them arsenic a translator for the programme was "not fluent successful English," according to the discarded book. 

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"An American pottery teacher was contracted to supply respective weeks of grooming classes to section artists to amended their methods and thatch them however to successfully marque pottery that could beryllium brought to market," the discarded publication reported. "Unfortunately, the translator hired for the sessions was not fluent successful English and was incapable to transmit ample portions of the lectures to the participants." 

USAID "funneled astir $1 cardinal into batty probe connected coronaviruses astatine China’s infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology," Sen. Joni Ernst claims, which "the CIA admits was the apt root of COVID-19." (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

Ernst added successful different illustration that USAID "funneled astir $1 cardinal into batty probe connected coronaviruses astatine China’s infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology, which the CIA admits was the apt root of COVID-19." 

The Government Accountability Office published a study successful 2023 uncovering that some USAID and the National Institutes of Health directed payer funds to American universities and a nonprofit enactment earlier the wealth recovered its mode to Chinese groups, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The study recovered that betwixt 2014 and 2021, U.S. payer funds were redirected to entities, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Wuhan University and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, which is portion of the Chinese Communist Party. The 3 groups each received much than $2 cardinal combined from the U.S. authorities "through 7 subawards," according to the report.

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"The selected entities are authorities institutions oregon laboratories successful China that behaviour enactment connected infectious diseases, including pandemic viruses, and person had actions taken by national agencies to code information oregon information concerns," the study states. "All 3 selected Chinese entities received funds."

In January, the CIA nether the 2nd Trump medication released an updated appraisal connected the origins of COVID-19, favoring the mentation that the contagious illness was owed to a laboratory leak. The CIA antecedently had maintained that it did not person capable grounds to reason whether COVID originated successful a laboratory oregon a "wet market" successful Wuhan, China.

Ernst claimed successful the X thread that USAID besides provided funds to boost tourism to Lebanon and to nonstop Ukrainian models to manner week. 

"The bureau spent $2 cardinal promoting tourism to Lebanon, a nation the State Department warns against traveling to ‘due to crime, terrorism, civilian unrest, kidnapping, unexploded landmines, and the hazard of equipped conflict,'" she wrote. 

October 2024 Fashion Week successful Paris. (Kristy Sparow/WireImage)

"USAID spends wealth similar it’s going retired of fashion, literally," she wrote. "Trade assistance to Ukraine paid for models and designers to instrumentality trips to New York City, London Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week, and South by Southwest successful Austin."

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The Trump administration and DOGE, which is led by Musk, enactment USAID successful its enactment of occurrence implicit the weekend, arsenic DOGE continues tearing done authorities agencies to portion them of reported overspending and corruption. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that helium is present the acting manager of USAID, and told the media connected Monday that the bureau needs to beryllium brought successful enactment with Trump's "America First" policies, which see heightened scrutiny implicit the organisation of payer funds overseas. 

Elon Musk, the seat of DOGE, has been starring an probe into USAID's spending practices arsenic the bureau comes to a standstill. (Getty Images)

Musk has meantime slammed the bureau arsenic a "viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hatred America," and reported successful an audio-only connection connected X overnight connected Sunday that "we’re successful the process" of "shutting down USAID" and that Trump reportedly agreed to shutter the agency.

Democrats person slammed the Trump administration's efforts connected USAID. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., accused Trump of starting a dictatorship portion she protested extracurricular USAID office connected Monday. 

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"It is simply a really, truly bittersweet time successful America. We are witnessing a law crisis," Omar said. "We talked astir Trump wanting to beryllium a dictator connected time one. And present we are. This is what the opening of dictatorship looks similar erstwhile you gut the Constitution, and you instal yourself arsenic the sole power. That is however dictators are made."

Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman and Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.