Dem Lawmaker Warns That Trump Cuts To USAID Are 'Absolutely A Threat To National Security'

2 days ago

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) joined Forbes senior editor Maggie McGrath on "Forbes Newsroom" to discuss President Trump's cuts to USAID.

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Transcript

00:00But when you look at the cuts to U.S. aid, I'm wondering, is there any merit to what the Trump

00:05administration is doing? Does it feel like there's a broader thesis that will benefit America here?

00:10It's really hard to find a thesis that that holds any sort of water here, any sort of hypothesis of

00:17why some of the best money that we can possibly spend, the most effective money that we can

00:22possibly spend, is on the front end of crises. And instead of doing that, which has been tried

00:31and true throughout our history, we've had 80 or so years of peace through this kind of diplomacy

00:37and this sort of humanitarian aid, as well as, of course, a strong military to back it up as well.

00:42The idea that we would unravel USAID, you know, in a matter of weeks and months,

00:48and without any sort of real comprehensive look across the landscape and trying to figure out,

00:55you know, what is worthy of cutting back on and what isn't, you're seeing it in kind of the

01:04opportunities that I think China in particular is seeing coming out of this, coming right into

01:09where we're leaving, and we're leaving a vacuum and they're coming in. So, no, I can't really

01:14find any hypothesis that makes any sense other than a real understanding that the American people

01:20feel as though they would like to make sure that we're focused internally on us and that we would

01:27like to be responsible to the taxpayer, make sure that there is no fraud, waste, and abuse in any

01:34area. And that I understand. I really do genuinely understand that it's my responsibility and the

01:39responsibility of our government to be here and make important and smart decisions on behalf of

01:45the American people for their domestic tranquility and their national security as well. And that's,

01:50in fact, what has happened. That's, I think, what the frustrating part for me as a lawmaker is.

01:56These aren't haphazard decisions of where USAID is or isn't. This isn't haphazard decisions over

02:02the VA or DOD or USDA or FDA or any of those other places. That's what we do here in Congress.

02:10And that's what the agencies do over time with their appropriated funding. And to come in and

02:15have what appears to be a singular group of unqualified humans come in and just, you know,

02:21hack away at these and then redo and undo them is just, it's honestly, it's fraud, waste, and abuse.

02:28You're watching it happen.

02:30I spoke to the CEO of a global organization that works with refugee resettlements earlier,

02:36and her comment was that it's a threat to national security effectively because our partners around

02:43the world look to see if America keeps its promises when working with people like in

02:47Afghanistan. As a veteran, as a congresswoman, what is your perspective on that statement?

02:53Absolutely the same. I had a chance to be at the Munich Security

02:57Conference a few weeks ago when I was in the audience when Vice President Vance gave

03:03a excoriating speech about the EU and NATO. And you could have heard a pin drop and the

03:11repercussions felt around the world for our NATO allies, for those who we are forming alliances

03:16with in the Indo-Pacific, for those who may or may not choose to join us in alliances in Africa

03:22or other nations. What they heard, what I heard, was that America can't be counted on.

03:29And that is absolutely a threat to national security because we have to be good to our word,

03:36good for our word. And you can bet that what people heard coming from J.D. Vance's,

03:41from Vice President Vance's speech in Munich was heard in Asia, was heard by President Xi,

03:47was heard by Taiwan and the Taiwanese government. All of those kinds of things,

03:53the world is very, very small and they have huge implications.

Dem Lawmaker Warns That Trump Cuts To USAID Are 'Absolutely A Threat To National Security'

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