White House flags top USAID boondoggles under Elon Musk's microscope

The White House connected Monday released a database of projects overseen by the apical U.S. assistance bureau it identified arsenic "waste and abuse" arsenic Elon Musk's outgo cutters question to dismantle the decades-old supplier of overseas aid. 

Musk, a "special authorities employee," according to White House property caput Karoline Leavitt, oversees the recently created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Despite its title, DOGE is not a authorities bureau but has been tasked by the White House’s enforcement bureau with dismantling apical spending initiatives, and the billionaire's astir caller people is the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

"For decades, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been unaccountable to taxpayers arsenic it funnels monolithic sums of wealth to the ridiculous — and, successful galore cases, malicious — favored projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight," the White House said Monday. 

According to a database released by the White House, USAID allocated millions of dollars for programs the Trump medication considers arguable and that often progressive diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives launched during the Biden administration.

WHAT IS USAID AND WHY IS IT IN TRUMP’S CROSSHAIRS?

Billionaire Elon Musk is simply a "special authorities employee" moving for the Trump medication to basal retired wasteful spending.  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

At the apical of the database was a $1.5 cardinal program slated to "advance diversity, equity and inclusion successful Serbia's workplaces and concern communities" and a $70,000 programme for a "DEI musical" successful Ireland.

Initiatives that supported LGBTQI programs were besides flagged arsenic an inappropriate usage of payer funds, including $47,000 for a "transgender opera" successful Colombia, $32,000 for a "transgender comic book" successful Peru and $2 cardinal for enactment changes and "LGBT activism" successful Guatemala.

Fox News Digital could not independently verify the initiatives elaborate by the White House successful Colombia oregon Guatemala. The White House referenced reports astir these programs by the Daily Mail, the Daily Caller News Foundation and different outlets. 

The White House besides elaborate spending initiatives that launched during Trump’s erstwhile administration, including a 2017-2019, $6 cardinal statement that it said was intended to "fund tourism" successful Egypt. 

MUSK'S DOGE TAKES AIM AT ‘VIPER’S NEST' FEDERAL AGENCY WITH GLOBAL FOOTPRINT

USAID humanitarian assistance destined for Venezuela is displayed for the media astatine a warehouse adjacent to the Tienditas International Bridge connected the outskirts of Cucuta, Colombia, Feb. 19, 2019.  (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)

However, the nexus referencing the Egyptian programme elaborate however it was intended to physique connected erstwhile investments successful North Sinai that provided potable h2o and wastewater services to hundreds of thousands of radical and would supply further "access to proscription for agrarian communities and economical livelihood programming for families."

The White House besides outlined USAID’s backing for coronavirus research, including millions of payer dollars supplied to EcoHealth Alliance for coronavirus research, enactment for contraceptive initiatives and programs that it said benefited terrorists successful respective countries. 

The aboriginal of USAID remains unclear, though the doors to its office were closed Monday, and thousands of employees crossed the globe sat waiting to perceive whether they inactive had jobs aft the evident Musk takeover.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been named the acting director, and helium agreed Monday with the White House that the bureau needed an overhaul.

"The president made maine the acting administrator," helium told Fox News. "I’ve delegated that powerfulness to idiosyncratic who is determination full-time, and we’re going to spell done the aforesaid process astatine USAID arsenic we’re going done present astatine the State Department."

Employees and supporters stitchery to protestation extracurricular the U.S. Agency for International Development office Feb. 3, 2025, successful Washington, D.C.  (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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Questions stay implicit whether the White House has the ineligible authorization to dismantle an autarkic agency, and Democratic lawmakers connected Monday joined bureau employees who stood extracurricular the office protesting the shutdown contempt having been told to stay astatine home. 

Rubio took contented with the protests and referred to them arsenic "rank insubordination."

"The extremity was to betterment it, but present we person fertile insubordination," helium said. "Now we person fundamentally an progressive effort — their basal cognition is, ‘We don’t enactment for anyone. We enactment for ourselves. No bureau of authorities tin archer america what to do.’"