WASHINGTON (KWQC) – U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa said she’s been repeatedly stonewalled by USAID when investigating how the agency spends its money going back to 2023.
In a media release on Friday, Ernst, who is Senate DOGE Caucus chair, said USAID had “misled, lied, and deceived Americans by blocking her extensive efforts to get answers into how tax dollars were spent at the agency.”
A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from placing 2,200 employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development on paid leave.
In the letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ernst outlined her experience beginning with how USAID falsely claimed aid data was classified.
“However, after accepting the requested accommodations and waiting weeks for available SCIF space at USAID’s headquarters, my staff discovered the documents were not classified,” wrote Ernst.
She said Congress must pay attention to the activities of USAID’s implementing partners, including Chemonics, to verify whether USAID erred in selecting them to manage this funding,” Ernst concluded.
Ernst said she found a series of “jaw-dropping examples, including, sending Ukrainians to Paris Fashion Week, risky research in Wuhan, tourism in Lebanon, and much more.”
After those discoveries, she and Congressman Michael McCaul launched an official congressional investigation in April 2023.
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.
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