The White House’s budget chief defended a $9.4 billion clawback of congressionally approved funds on Wednesday, telling a room full of wary senators that rescinding billions of dollars in foreign aid was “not a fade on soft power,” but “a fade on waste, fraud and abuse.”
For three hours, Russell Vought said that the clawback — which came in the form of a rescissions package brought by President Donald Trump earlier this month — would not touch “lifesaving aid.” Instead, he said it would slice away programs the administration disagreed with, such as a “$330,000 [grant] for LGBTQ advocacy in Uganda” and a “$9.3 million [grant] to advise Russian doctors on how to perform abortions.”
Both of those programs, Vought said, were funded through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.
About the author
Elissa Miolene
Elissa Miolene reports on USAID and the U.S. government at Devex. She previously covered education at The San Jose Mercury News, and has written for outlets like The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Washingtonian magazine, among others. Before shifting to journalism, Elissa led communications for humanitarian agencies in the United States, East Africa, and South Asia.
