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REUTERS: WHITE HOUSE USING USAID FUNDS FOR VOUGHT’S SECURITY

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Reuters reports that an examination of documents show the White House redirected USAID funds to Russell Vought’s security detail:

WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) – The White House budget office is using millions of dollars from the former U.S. foreign aid agency to pay for the security detail of Russell Vought, President Donald Trump’s budget chief and an architect of the government overhaul that has cut thousands of federal jobs, according to three documents seen by Reuters.

The White House Office of Management and Budget, which Vought leads, is allocating $15 million of what remains of USAID operating expenses to cover the costs of his protection by the U.S. Marshals Service through the end of 2026, the documents showed.

When Reuters asked OMB OMB spokesperson Rachel Cauley for comment she said in an email: “We are going to continue to use available funds at the three agencies overseen by the director to protect him.”

USAID, long considered one of the United States’ top agencies for generating international good will and saving many lives, became a target of the Trump administration right after Trump began his second term. It officially closed its doors in July. US$54 billion was cut from 5,800 multiyear contracts, and US$2.5 billion was cut from FY2025 Development Assistance. Roughly 80% of global health awards (about US$12.7 billion) were terminated.

Why did the Trump administation go after it? Politics played a part: the administration accused the agency of “wasteful spending” on “woke” programs such as gender and climate change programs. It also felt it didn’t fit into its American First policy and that there would be tighter control and more efficiency if foreign assistance was consolidated under the State Department.

The optics of the Reuters excusive are not good for an administration and often ignores bad optics: various models estimate that hundreds of thousands to millions of children have died or are at risk of dying due to the loss of aid.

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