ICYMI: Ernst Holds USAID Accountable
WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is working with President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to hold the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) accountable for stonewalling her investigations and hiding how they spent tax dollars.
She recounted her experience in a Wall Street Journal op-ed here:
“After keeping its spending records hidden from Congress and taxpayers, USAID employees are now protesting the review of the agency’s records by President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. It’s no surprise that Washington insiders are more upset at DOGE for trying to stop wasteful spending than at USAID for misusing tax dollars.”
This week, Senator Ernst joined Fox News to discuss her work with DOGE:
“I was privileged to meet with Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk just after the fall election and gave them an eight-page memo that outlined a number of the ‘squeal’ initiatives that I have had over the last ten years. It outlined a blueprint to save $2 trillion within our federal government, and we have seen them act on those initiatives already.”
“There are so many ways that we can save money. We’ve seen the fraud, waste, and abuse – the telework abuse that has happened in DC…We have to be able to do a deep dive and provide our taxpayers with good reasons why we are spending their money the way we do. Unfortunately, for many of these agencies, they cannot come up with a good reason why we are spending money the way we do.”
View more coverage of Ernst exposing the rogue agency:
RADIO IOWA | Iowa Senator Ernst says USAID shutdown the right move
“Last summer, Ernst accused USAID of payroll fraud. On Sunday on the X Spaces broadcast, Ernst said Musk, with President Trump’s blessing, has made the right move in shutting down USAID, so ‘every dollar’ can be scrutinized.”
DAILY CALLER | Joni Ernst Says USAID ‘Abused The System,’ Agency Threatened Her For Seeking Transparency
“‘We need to know that those dollars are doing it and not going to fund terrorist organizations, not going to support a gender ideology in certain regions. We have to know that it’s going for a specific goal that is approved by Congress and, unfortunately, USAID has abused this system,’ Ernst said.”
THE FEDERALIST | Ernst’s struggle to hold USAID accountable frustrated Musk who called the agency’s obstruction of her attempts to investigate ‘outrageous.’
“Ernst first pressed USAID on how it used its tax dollars to pay the facilities and administrative costs outlined in Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreements (NICRAs) in November 2022… Months later in November 2023, Ernst demanded that USAID Administrator Samantha Powers hand over crucial information about her agency’s spending — including sending billions of American tax dollars to fund pet projects and small businesses in Ukraine — but, as Ernst noted Sunday, was again ignored… Ernst’s struggle to hold USAID accountable frustrated Musk, who called the agency’s obstruction of her repeated attempts to investigate ‘outrageous.’”
“The Republican Hawkeye State senator and Senate DOGE Caucus chair, listed a slew of examples on social media this week on why ‘USAID is one of the worst offenders of waste in Washington’… In one example she highlighted, an inspector general discovered that Chemonics, a USAID contractor, overbilled the feds by ‘as much as $270 million through fiscal year 2019’ and was caught ‘possibly offering kickbacks to terrorist groups.’”
FOX NEWS | USAID has 'demonstrated pattern of obstructionism,' claims top DOGE Republican in letter to Rubio
“The Senate chair of the DOGE Caucus is exposing a ‘demonstrated pattern of obstructionism’ at the U.S.' top aid agency in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, outlined how the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been ‘stonewalling’ her office for years as she sought documents to ensure taxpayer dollars weren't wasted at the agency, which is now under the microscope of billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).”
RED STATE | Joni Ernst Drops Devastating USAID Thread, and You Won't Believe Where Your Money Has Been Going
“Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) put out a thread on Tuesday and you won't believe what your money has been going to.”
DAILY MAIL | Congresswoman reveals 'crazy' USAID threatened her when she tried to curb its spending last year
“The Iowa Republican tore into the agency…'They were trying to scare us away from continuing to dig into this,' she added. Ernst wanted to know how much USAID was spending on administrative costs versus aid.”
NATIONAL REVIEW | USAID’s Long Track Record of Wasteful, Left-Wing Spending Made It an Obvious First Target for Musk
“Senator Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) pushed to suspend the flow of American taxpayer dollars to EcoHealth. ‘From funneling tax dollars for batty studies with the Wuhan Institute in China, to sending Ukrainians to Paris Fashion Week, USAID has been one of the worst offenders of waste in Washington.’”
DAILY WIRE | ‘Beyond Repair’: Musk Says Trump Has Given The Go-Ahead To ‘Get Rid Of’ USAID
“Musk made the comments during a discussion on X with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) as they talked about the work of what Trump has called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Ernst said that any program administered by USAID that may actually benefit America should be moved under the jurisdiction of the State Department.”
FOX DIGITAL | Senator sends message to Dems upset over Elon Musk's DOGE team: 'Get used to this'
“We are going to find ways to focus our American taxpayer dollars on the things that they should be spent on, which is the American people and our interests… There are important [USAID] projects, we acknowledge that, but we have to disrupt the system, ferret out the waste and get back to what we should be doing. And that's making sure that American interests are represented and supporting our allies and partners."
WASHINGTON EXAMINER | Joni Ernst spotlights ‘obstruction and lies’ by USAID’s wasteful spending
“But what we found was extreme expenditures on the part of USAID with very little data-driven results. We have seen money funded in the Wuhan Institute of Virology through dollars steered by USAID on dangerous Coronaviruses. We saw how that turned out. We’ve seen funding going to Morocco for pottery classes, tourism in Lebanon of all places, even when the State Department was advising against travel.”
FOX NEWS | 'Sesame Street in Iraq': USAID's 'wasteful and dangerous' spending exposed by senator
“Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, published a list of projects and programs she says the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has helped fund across the years, highlighting it as ‘wasteful and dangerous’ spending that has gripped taxpayers until the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) stepped in… Ernst highlighted that the agency ‘authorized a whopping $20 million to create a Sesame Street in Iraq.’"
WASHINGTON EXAMINER | Joni Ernst backs Trump’s gutting of USAID
“Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) is backing President Donald Trump in his effort to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development… Ernst outlined problems with the agency that she discovered in previous investigations. In addition to waste, corruption, and inefficiency, she also alleged a ‘demonstrated pattern of obstructionism’ in its dealings with the Senate… The Iowa senator went into detail regarding some of the excesses of USAID in an X thread, including a reported $2 million for pottery classes in Morocco, an undisclosed sum for Ukrainian models to attend fashion shows abroad, $2 million for tourism in Lebanon, $20 million for a Sesame Street in Iraq, and $9 million in humanitarian assistance for Syria that ended up in the hands of terrorists.”
WASHINGTON TIMES | Sen. Joni Ernst applauds Secretary of State Rubio’s push to overhaul USAID and review its spending
“Ms. Ernst has prided herself as a taxpayer advocate and authored the ‘Make ’Em Squeal’ awards targeting wasteful government spending. She is now heading up the Senate DOGE caucus, working with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency. In a live X session with Mr. Musk this week, Ms. Ernst said a large chunk of the USAID money is spent on overhead costs and things not associated with its humanitarian mission… In the wake of this series of significant misjudgments and oversight obstruction by the USAID, it is of the utmost importance to conduct a full and independent analysis of the recipients of USAID assistance.”
BREITBART | Sen. Joni Ernst Details USAID’s ‘Anti-American Agenda’ in Letter to Secretary of State Rubio
“Ernst said that, through her oversight efforts, she discovered that USAID has signed onto agreements with grant recipients allowing the recipients to spend more than 25 percent of the total award on indirect costs of the grant, including ‘rent for a partner’s corporate headquarters, advocacy costs, and other miscellaneous expenses.’”
KWQC | Ernst blasts USAID for obstructing investigations
“In November 2023, Ernst began investigating USAID’s assistance to small businesses in Ukraine. Ernst wrote to Powers that she was steadfast in her support for weapons and munitions on the battlefields, but wanted accountability for the billions in non-military aid. In March 2024 she led a bipartisan effort to eliminate waste at the agency. In May 2024, USAID’s obstruction of her oversight efforts led Ernst to call for a probe of the agency’s implementing partners and recipients of aid by the Inspector General.”
TV coverage of Senator Ernst’s efforts here:
Watch Fox News’s full coverage of Ernst’s work here.
“We got all kinds of threats from USAID because I was trying to exercise my oversight capacity in Congress. My staff and I had estimated was that 30 to 40% of the USAID’s awards would go to indirect costs. So their overhead, their rent, employees.”
Watch Ernst’s full Fox News interview here.
“I have been on USAID’s case for years now, going back several years where I was trying to investigate the expenditures for humanitarian aid, primarily when it came to the war in Ukraine. And what my team and I encountered was absolute obstruction and lies coming out of USAID. They did everything possible to stop me from accessing their records, to understand where our taxpayer money was going... We are going to find ways to focus our American taxpayer dollars on the things that they should be spent on, which is the American people and our interests.”
Watch Ernst’s full Fox Business interview here.
“However, we have seen such complacency with oversight and direction from USAID. Sometimes it takes a sledgehammer. And that's exactly what Elon Musk is doing. He is going and he is dismantling it. It will be scrutinized. But I can guarantee you, if there are worthy projects that really benefit Americans and our objectives, that those programs, will be rebuilt, but they will have proper oversight within the State Department and in Congress.”
Watch KCCI’s coverage of Ernst’s efforts here.
“USAID is culpable for decades of unchecked, outlandish expenditures and that behavior must end now.”
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