Who is Samantha Power? Meet the Biden-era USAID leader facing backlash amid Musk's DOGE crackdown

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has precocious go the people of Elon Musk’s DOGE efforts to slash authorities discarded and spending, bringing accrued scrutiny to the grounds of Samantha Power, the agency’s head during astir the full Biden administration.

Power, who antecedently served arsenic the United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2013 to 2017 successful the Obama medication aft serving connected his National Security Council, took the reins of USAID successful the aboriginal days of the Biden medication and was tasked with overseeing the tens of billions of dollars budgeted for overseas aid. 

"One of the astir pressing challenges facing our federation is restoring and strengthening America's planetary enactment arsenic a champion of democracy, quality rights, and the dignity of each people," then-Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said successful a connection astatine the clip of Power’s appointment. "Few Americans are amended equipped to assistance pb that enactment than Ambassador Samantha Power."

Power was straight progressive successful the Obama administration’s surveillance of Trump’s 2016 statesmanlike run and sought to get Michael Flynn's redacted individuality utilizing an "unmasking" petition connected astatine slightest 7 occasions, Fox News Digital previously reported, contempt testifying nether oath earlier the House Intelligence Committee that she had "no recollection" of ever making specified a petition adjacent once.

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Samantha Power led USAID from 2021-2025. (Getty Images)

Fox News reported successful 2017 that Power was "unmasking" astatine specified a accelerated gait successful the last months of the Obama medication that she averaged much than 1 petition for each moving time successful 2016, and she adjacent sought accusation successful the days starring up to President Trump’s inauguration, according to aggregate sources adjacent to the matter.

Power’s tenure astatine USAID was besides not without controversy, adjacent from her ain party, including an incidental successful which she faced a nationalist revolt from existent and erstwhile unit successful 2024 implicit her enactment of Israel.

Critics besides took contented with her repeatedly gathering with influential wide foundations portion serving successful her relation astatine USAID, which Fox News Digital reported successful 2023, included George Soros' Open Society Foundations astatine slightest 2 times, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation astatine slightest 5 times, and meetings with respective different almighty groups similar Ford and Rockefeller foundations. 

Power’s supporters accidental she has played a captious relation successful providing U.S. assistance to war-torn areas similar Ukraine and Gaza on with aiding the alleviation of humanitarian crises that person developed successful places similar Haiti, Armenia and Sudan. 

"The champion testament to USAID’s publication is the surge successful PRC-backed and Russian-backed propaganda maligning USAID and our enactment astir the world," Power said successful an exit interrogation with Politico past month. "And it’s truly picked up a batch implicit the past twelvemonth and a half. We counted 81 malicious and mendacious propaganda campaigns, truly dedicated campaigns, aimed astatine denigrating USAID and our reputation. So we’re doing thing that is getting connected their nerves."

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Samantha Power, head of the United States Agency for International Development, delivers a code during a sojourn to El Salvador connected June 14, 2021. (REUTERS/Jose Cabezas)

Power, who is joined to erstwhile Obama medication authoritative and prof Cass Sunstein, added, "We are an bureau that has thousands of radical astir the satellite representing the United States, some due to the fact that it’s successful the interests of the American radical to person wellness systems that are much unafraid and tin spot infectious diseases and tackle them, to alteration regulations truthful it’s easier for American businesses to invest, but besides to amusement up and to amusement the value of investing successful the concern — and not investing successful a mode that conscionable leaves countries saddled with debt."

USAID has been progressively questioned by Republicans implicit its alleged backing of probe relating to the coronavirus astatine the Wuhan Institute of Virology successful China, arsenic good arsenic millions successful assistance that supports LGBT rights overseas and dozens of millions of dollars for migrant crises successful different countries, similar the astir $45 cardinal slated to supply exigency nutrient assistance and economical enactment for Venezuelan migrants successful Colombia.

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Elon Musk speaks during an America PAC municipality hallway connected Oct. 26, 2024, successful Lancaster, Pa. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Democrats antagonistic that the bureau plays a captious relation successful U.S. nationalist information interests and accidental it should stay independent. They constituent to the enactment USAID did to antagonistic Soviet power during the Cold War, a sphere of power that could stay a interest amid China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Tech billionaire and DOGE Chair Elon Musk has been connected a warpath against USAID, which is an autarkic U.S. bureau that was established nether the Kennedy medication to administer economical assistance to overseas nations, arsenic helium leads DOGE’s ngo of cutting authorities abdominous and overspending astatine the national level. 

Musk announced successful an audio-only connection connected X implicit the play that "we’re successful the process" of "shutting down USAID."

"On Friday, February 7, 2025, astatine 11:59 p.m. (EST) each USAID nonstop prosecute unit volition beryllium placed connected administrative permission globally, with the objection of designated unit liable for mission-critical functions, halfway enactment and specially designated programs," USAID's website presently says. "Essential unit expected to proceed moving volition beryllium informed by Agency enactment by Thursday, February 6, astatine 3:00pm (EST)."

A Fox News Digital reappraisal of USAID’s caller past shows that it has repeatedly been accused of fiscal mismanagement and corruption agelong earlier Trump's 2nd administration, with spending that took spot nether Power’s reign apt to proceed to beryllium a absorption of speech with Republicans.

The USAID emblem flies successful beforehand of the USAID bureau successful Washington connected Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., sent a missive to Power successful October 2024, sounding the alarm connected the "likely misuse of much than 1 cardinal dollars successful U.S. humanitarian assistance sent to Gaza since October 2023," Fox Digital reported astatine the time. 

A Syrian nationalist named Mahmoud Al Hafyan, 53, was charged successful November 2024 for allegedly diverting much than $9 cardinal successful U.S.-funded humanitarian assistance to violent groups, including the Al-Nusrah Front. The Al-Nusrah Front, besides known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, is simply a designated violent enactment with ties to al-Qaeda, according to the State Department.

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.

Eight auditors and employees for the USAID inspector general’s bureau sounded the alarm to the Washington Post successful 2014 that antagonistic findings surrounding the agency’s enactment were removed from last reports and audits.

Trump repeatedly projected slashing the nation’s overseas assistance fund for USAID and the State Department during his archetypal administration, including proposing successful his archetypal twelvemonth successful bureau to slash the budgets by 37%, which Congress rejected. 

"With $20 trillion successful debt, the authorities indispensable larn to tighten its belt," Trump said successful 2017 portion advocating for the cuts.

Elon Musk leads the Department of Government Efficiency. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Power sat down with late-night big Stephen Colbert connected Tuesday nighttime and defended USAID's enactment and warned against shutting it down, claiming that children overseas successful enactment for tuberculosis attraction were told to spell location arsenic a effect of Trump's enforcement order.

"Programs that were running, the radical we’re depending on, successful immoderate cases, for life-saving medicine, similar medicine, if you person HIV, that keeps you alive, rather literally," Power told Colbert. "Or if you’re successful Sudan and you person a kid who’s wasting distant due to the fact that of malnutrition, a occurrence paste, a peanut paste that USAID provides brings that kid backmost from the brink of death. All of those programs are shuttered."

Democrat lawmakers took portion successful a rally against DOGE connected Tuesday extracurricular the Treasury Department, arguing that Musk's actions are unconstitutional and a menace to Democracy. 

"My bosom is with the radical retired connected the thoroughfare extracurricular USAID, but my caput tells me, ‘Man, Trump volition beryllium good satisfied to person this fight,’" seasoned strategist David Axelrod, who served with Power successful the Obama administration, said this week. "When you speech astir cuts, the archetypal happening radical accidental is: Cut overseas aid."

Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFall, Emma Colton and Gregg Re contributed to this report