State Department says Trump froze foreign aid to 'root out waste'

WASHINGTON — 

The State Department connected Wednesday sought to clarify President Donald Trump's bid to frost and reappraisal overseas improvement assistance aft the apical U.S. diplomat blunted immoderate of the chaos that ensued with an exigency bid that could shield the world's largest HIV programme from the 90-day backing freeze.

At the White House, Trump said his pauses to overseas and home backing are portion of his administration's effort to basal retired "tremendous discarded and fraud and abuse."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio's late-Tuesday waiver exempts humanitarian aid, which helium classifies arsenic "life-saving medicine, aesculapian services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance, arsenic good arsenic supplies and tenable administrative costs arsenic indispensable to present specified assistance."

The United Nations' AIDS programme welcomed the news, emphasizing the worth of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, oregon PEPFAR, which serves 20 cardinal radical successful 55 countries.

"UNAIDS welcomes this waiver from the U.S. government, which ensures that millions of radical surviving with HIV tin proceed to person life-saving HIV medicine during the appraisal of U.S. overseas improvement assistance," said Executive Director Winnie Byanyima. "This urgent determination recognizes PEPFAR's captious relation successful the AIDS effect and restores anticipation to radical surviving with HIV."

'Blocking woke programs'

In a Wednesday memo sent to journalists, the State Department explained its rationale for the frost during the reappraisal and lauded aboriginal outgo cuts, saying that "even astatine this aboriginal stage, implicit $1,000,000,000 successful spending not aligned with an America First docket has been prevented."

The U.S. spent astir $70 cardinal successful overseas assistance successful fiscal twelvemonth 2023, the astir caller information available.

"We are rooting retired waste," the memo said. "We are blocking woke programs. And we are exposing activities that tally contrary to our nationalist interests. None of this would beryllium imaginable if these programs remained connected autopilot."

The president, who said Wednesday astatine the White House that helium "could basal present each day" and springiness examples of wasted fraud and maltreatment successful the U.S. government, highlighted a few.

"We identified and stopped $50 cardinal being sent to Gaza to bargain condoms for Hamas," helium said. "Fifty million. And you cognize what's happened to them? They've utilized them arsenic a method of making bombs. How astir that?"

The State Department echoed this, saying successful a statement, "Without the pause, U.S. taxpayers would person provided condoms [and different contraceptive services] successful Gaza, clime justness selling services successful Gabon, cleanable vigor programs for women successful Fiji, sex improvement programs successful D.C., household readying passim Latin America, enactment acquisition and pro-abortion programs for young girls globally, and overmuch more. These types of programs bash not marque America stronger, safer oregon much prosperous."

A time earlier, the State Department sent a memo citing examples of unworthy projects, including $102 cardinal to money humanitarian assistance nonprofit International Medical Corps' enactment successful war-battered Gaza.

A USAID study says the bureau delivered astir $7 cardinal worthy of antheral condoms and astir $1 cardinal successful pistillate condoms successful the 2023 fiscal year. In total, the bureau said it disbursed astir 138 cardinal antheral condoms and 1.7 cardinal pistillate condoms worldwide.

Under USAID, the main head for U.S. overseas improvement funds, the bulk of contraceptive items were delivered to African countries, according to the report. Jordan was the lone state successful the Middle East to person a shipment, which consisted of injectable and oral contraceptives valued astatine $45,680.

'Dramatic overreach'

At the U.S. Capitol, lawmakers not lone affirmed the request for accountability but besides emphasized that Congress, not the White House, decides however U.S. payer wealth is spent.

"I deliberation it's due to person a review," said Senator Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican.

"It would beryllium my hope, however, that the assistance tin beryllium reinstated and travel to Ukraine," Cramer said. "And past we'll spot successful the adjacent appropriation rhythm whether oregon not Congress inactive has the volition to proceed that aid."

"This is melodramatic overreach by the White House, by the president," said Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, a Democrat. "It's unprecedented, uncalled for. This is wealth that we person appropriated successful our relation arsenic members of the Senate and the House."