American Institute for Financial Analysis President William Ruger and investigative journalist Michael Shellenberger testified earlier than Congress on Thursday to spotlight waste and abuse in america Company for Worldwide Improvement (USAID) program.
USAID got here beneath scrutiny after President Donald Trump’s prolonged freeze on overseas support and improvement funds worldwide. Many contend that USAID, which spent about two-thirds of the $65 billion the US allotted in overseas support in 2023, is funding packages that don’t help US pursuits.
Trump critics argue freezing USAID funds endangers world humanitarian efforts and US nationwide safety, citing threats to packages combating HIV/AIDS and aiding violence victims in Latin America. Democratic critics have framed nationwide safety considerations to counter Trump’s reforms, emphasizing their affect on US affect in opposition to China.
In his testimony, which befell earlier than the Senate Committee on Homeland Safety & Governmental Affairs, Ruger argued these criticisms weren’t compelling and fail to deal with the bigger issues in how US overseas support is at the moment allotted.
Ruger, a veteran of the Afghanistan Conflict who stays an officer within the US Navy (Reserve Part) with the rank of Commander, rejected the concept that cuts to USAID would threaten US protection capabilities or weaken America’s place in opposition to China.
“The outcomes of nice energy competitors will likely be determined totally on these margins,” Ruger advised the committee. “Thus the geopolitical implications of the struggle over overseas support are pretty restricted. When it comes to our materials energy, sustaining a big nationwide protection functionality second to none is what permits us to defend our pursuits and deter assaults on our territory.”
Shellenberger, a journalist and CBR Chair of Politics, Censorship, and Free Speech on the College of Austin, stated USAID’s well being packages warrant scrutiny because of the company’s documented historical past of utilizing humanitarian support as cowl to advertise regime change and biodefense analysis.
Although Thursday’s listening to broadly addressed USAID’s wastefulness, Shellenberger stated his objective was to spotlight the company’s more and more aggressive makes an attempt to affect impartial investigative journalism and promote censorship.
“USAID has in recent times been funding censorship advocacy worldwide by way of its ‘Countering Disinformation’ program, which is a part of its Consortium for Elections and Political Course of Strengthening (CEPPS),” Shellenberger stated. “This work has included funding for so-called ‘fact-checking’ organizations, together with in Brazil, which governments use as a predicate for demanding censorship by social media corporations.”
Learn or obtain Will Ruger’s written testimony:
