Salazar Denounces Wasteful DEI Spending at Biden-Harris USAID
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairwoman María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) denounced the overtly wasteful and political spending that was allowed to take place in the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Biden-Harris Administration at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the matter.
Chairwoman Salazar called attention to the embarrassing programs USAID allocated hard-earned money for in Ecuador, Guatemala, and Peru. She also advocated for USAID to return to its original core functions as a guarantor of the United States’ soft power, especially as it pertains to protecting democracy in the Western Hemisphere. It is clear President Trump must redirect America’s spending to make our country safer, stronger, and more prosperous.
“I am very distraught because some of the programs discussed here come from a region where many of my constituents in South Florida are from,” said Chairwoman Salazar. “The Trump Administration has discovered spending at USAID that is completely and absolutely embarrassing. It is clear that under the Biden Administration, USAID lost its course.”
Chairwoman Salazar began her line of questioning by highlighting three egregious examples of wasteful taxpayer-funded programs in the Western Hemisphere that clearly served no real purpose besides achieving Marxist political goals. The first program Salazar identified was a $25,000 program for Venezuelans fleeing the Maduro regime to become drag queens in Ecuador. She also identified a $2 million program for the native population of Guatemala to have access to sex-change operations and an additional $23,000 program for Peruvians in the Iquitos region to hold diversity recruitment events.
Throughout her questioning, Chairwoman Salazar emphasized that vulnerable populations in Latin America don’t need money for far-left political propaganda like gender ideology, but real resources to meet their basic needs, among other important priorities.
To watch Salazar’s full line of questioning at the House Foreign Affairs Committee, click here.
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