Republicans piled on new evidence Wednesday in their battle to reel in USAID, pointing to millions of dollars that the foreign aid agency shipped to Ukraine to promote a dog collar manufacturer and send fashionistas to a show in London.
Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa Republican, said the U.S. Agency for International Development paid $1 million from American taxpayers to a Ukrainian carpet company, $255,000 to an organic coffee and tea producer, and $150,000 to a knitwear company.
House Republicans, meanwhile, heard testimony on how USAID funneled millions of dollars through a U.S. charity to the Nusra Front, a designated terrorist organization in Syria.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, said USAID money ended up in the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan and terrorists in Palestinian territories.
“Taxpayer funds have literally been used to undermine U.S. interests and counter American foreign policy goals under the guise of foreign aid,” said Ms. Greene, chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on delivering on government efficiency, also known as the DOGE panel.
The administration has moved to dismantle USAID and fired at least 1,600 U.S.-based staffers as part of President Trump’s broad effort to cut government costs.
SEE ALSO: USAID wasted millions on Ukrainian pet products and fashion junkets, Sen. Ernst says
Ms. Ernst’s data shows that USAID sent $300,000 to the Ukraine Pet Alliance, which markets dog collars and other pet products to the West.
Another $300,000 went to Animal ID, which uses QR codes to register and track pets.
Ms. Ernst said a Ukrainian pickle outfit received $148,000, a meatpacking plant received $319,000 and a Ukrainian vineyard received $89,000.
Wresting that information from USAID was tricky.
The senator said the agency claimed the information was classified and refused to provide a list of recipients of American taxpayers’ money.
USAID eventually allowed Ms. Ernst’s staff to review documents in a secure room at the agency’s headquarters. The senator said none of the information had been classified.
She said the hush-hush behavior was probably embarrassment at what the agency had been funding.
“We learned that the aid intended to alleviate economic distress in the war-torn nation was spent on such frivolous activities as sending Ukrainian models and designers on junkets to New York City, London Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week, and South by Southwest in Austin, Texas,” the senator said.
Democrats called the Republican revelations “wild conspiracy theories, accusations and unfounded data.”
“It’s designed to confuse and provide cover for Donald Trump and Elon Musk in their reckless gutting of our foreign aid,” said Rep. Melanie Stansbury, New Mexico Democrat.
While Republicans highlighted questionable spending on niche Ukraine economic projects, Ms. Stansbury focused on USAID funding for free press initiatives and safe houses at the battle lines between Russia and Ukraine.
She said curtailing USAID would do the bidding of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Why the hell are they so hell-bent on dismantling an organization that has been so vital in American interests and Western democracy?” she said.
Ms. Greene countered that the State Department continues to spend on food programs and other emergency aid.
Republican witnesses told Ms. Greene at a House hearing that USAID and other foreign aid programs have strayed into funding projects that many Americans would find laughable, if not outright objectionable.
“The problem is endemic in the aid culture,” said Max Primorac, a former USAID official who is now with The Heritage Foundation.
“There’s a fox loose in the henhouse,” said Gregg Roman, executive director of the Middle East Forum.
He said a U.S. nongovernmental organization was paid $122 million to provide food packages to internal refugees in Syria. Federal prosecutors said as much as $10 million of those meals, or 380,000 kits, ended up with the Nusrah Front.
Court documents didn’t identify the organization but listed the federal grant numbers involved. Those grants are traced back to Catholic Relief Services.
Rep. Michael Cloud, Texas Republican, said U.S. businesses that funneled money to a terrorist outfit would face charges.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.