After a report that funds allocated for the U.S. Agency for International Development are being used to pay for a Trump official’s security detail, Illinois Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi is pressing the administration for answers.
Reuters reported earlier this month that Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought was using USAID funds to pay for his security. As I noted at the time, Elon Musk — President Donald Trump’s biggest campaign donor and the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency — boasted last year about cutting off funding for the humanitarian aid agency, saying he was “feeding USAID into the wood chipper.” A spokesperson for OMB told Reuters, “We are going to continue to use available funds at the three agencies overseen by the director to protect him” — so it would seem some of those “wood chips,” about $15 million worth, conveniently landed with Vought’s office.
In a letter to Vought on Thursday, Krishnamoorthi raised concerns about the report:
While the safety of government officials is undoubtedly important, the appropriations process exists to ensure that dollars are used for their designated purpose. And though the Trump administration dismantled USAID and canceled most of its aid programs — to the detriment of U.S. global leadership — these funds are intended for international development and humanitarian assistance, not your security detail.
According to several estimates, the Trump administration’s gutting of USAID has already caused hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide — and it’s projected to lead to millions more in the years ahead. The cuts have even drawn backlash from some conservative evangelical groups.
In response to the letter, an OMB spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday, in part, “We are going to continue to use available funds at the three agencies overseen by the director to protect him.”
This story also continued a trend, noted by my colleague Steve Benen, of Trump officials’ rather large and eyebrow-raising security details. In his letter, Krishnamoorthi calls Vought’s use of USAID funds for his security detail an “abuse of power” and “fundamentally wrong.” “For over six decades, USAID has served as the cornerstone of America’s global humanitarian and development efforts, delivering food, health care, clean water, and economic opportunity to millions around the world. Its mandate is to alleviate poverty, promote democratic governance, and stabilize vulnerable regions through non-military assistance,” he said. “Redirecting funds away from these objectives to pay for domestic security operations deviates sharply from Congress’s intent and undermines the agency’s core purpose.” Krishnamoorthi is pushing to know the total amount of the funds being repurposed for Vought’s security detail and where specifically he took the money from, as well as whether and which humanitarian efforts have been affected as a result of repurposing the funds.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog. 
