Taxpayer money squandered overseas would be redirected to needs at home under a bill introduced by Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK).
Brecheen’s USA FIRST Act – short for “Unobligated Spending Adjustment to Focus Investment on Relief and Support for Taxpayers” Act – would transfer any unobligated funds previously appropriated to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to the Disaster Relief Fund under FEMA.
USAID has faced growing scandal after intense scrutiny from President Donald Trump’s administration has uncovered billions of dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse siphoned to radical leftwing boondoggles. Led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Trump has slashed spending and staffing at the agency and fought with courts to freeze its operations until order is restored.
Brecheen’s bill would transfer unobligated USAID funds to FEMA’s dwindling disaster relief in order to address catastrophic hurricane damage in the Southeast and other disaster-struck areas like Southern California.
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“Through DOGE, President Trump and Elon Musk continue to expose widespread fraud, waste, and abuse,” Brecheen told Breitbart News in an exclusive statement. “It’s outrageous that USAID has funneled billions of taxpayer dollars into absurd left-wing projects overseas. Americans deserve a common sense federal government that puts them first – not one driven by a foreign-focused radical ideology.”
USAID’s approval has taken a beating as its misdeeds have come to light, with even prominent Democrats pleading with lawmakers to avoid defending the embattled organization.
The agency has allocated $20 million on Sesame Street-styled children’s television program in Iraq, $2 million to the infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology (which the CIA now asserts likely caused the Covid-19 pandemic), and $1.5M for DEI in Serbian workplaces, among numerous other projects with dubious connections to the interests of American taxpayers.
USAID-managed funding totaled $43.4B in Fiscal Year 2023, even while the agency fought congressional oversight attempts.
Josh Brecheen’s USA First Act via BREITBART on Scribd
FEMA is also under fire for poor management, with Trump moving quickly to root out leftist ideologues and corruption that have diverted FEMA’s core mission and crippled disaster relief efforts.
During a January visit to Damascus, Virginia, a region devastated last autumn by Hurricane Helene, Vice President JD Vance criticized the “bureaucratic inadequacy” of the Biden-Harris administration, its response to Hurricane Helene, and the “red tape” of the federal government.
“I promise you that this administration will not forget you, we love you, we’re rooting for you, and we want to be part of this incredible recovery here in southwestern Virginia,” Vance told disaster victims.
Tuesday, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced four employees who circumvented leadership to make payments for migrant housing in a New York hotel were being terminated.
“Under President Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem’s leadership, DHS will not sit idly and allow deep state activists to undermine the will and safety of the American people,” the spokesman said.
Reps. Byron Donalds (R-FL) and Ralph Norman (R-SC) are cosponsors of the USA First Act.
Bradley Jaye is Deputy Political Editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter and Instagram @BradleyAJaye
