Rep. Sara Jacobs: Eliminating USAID Puts Americans at Risk and Worsens Waste, Fraud, and Abuse
At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing entitled “The USAID Betrayal,” Rep. Sara Jacobs (CA-51) explained how President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s elimination of USAID programs puts Americans in danger and exacerbates the potential for waste, fraud, and abuse.
Watch Rep. Sara Jacobs’ Remarks Here
Rep. Brian Mast: “Now I recognize the representative from California, Ms. Jacobs.”
Rep. Sara Jacobs: “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, a question for my colleagues. I know all of us probably remember Ebola from the 2014 outbreak that President Trump, a private citizen at the time, was particularly outspoken about and terrified of. For those of you who don’t remember, Ebola is a disease that has about a 41% fatality rate [for the new strain]. No vaccine, no treatment. It causes vomiting, muscle pain, and hemorrhagic bleeding. Pretty bad. I’d like all of my colleagues, please raise your hand if you would like Ebola in the United States.”
[silence]
Rep. Sara Jacobs: “No one?”
Rep. Brian Mast: “Can you say your question again?”
Rep. Sara Jacobs: “Would you like Ebola in the United States?”
Rep. Brian Mast: “I’m glad the Trump administration approved Ebola response.”
Rep. Sara Jacobs: “Yes. On that point – I ask for unanimous consent to enter into the record a New York Times article: “Lifesaving aid remains halted worldwide despite Rubio's promise.”’
Rep. Brian Mast: “So ordered. But it’s not. if you want to see the list.”
Rep. Sara Jacobs: “And, on Tuesday, Elon Musk, the billionaire tech entrepreneur empowered by President Trump to combat the agency – I’m quoting the article now – told reporters in the Oval Office that the administration had turned on funding for Ebola prevention and for HIV prevention. But in reality, again quoting this article, the Ebola funding and virtually all of the HIV prevention funding remains frozen, according to USAID employees and several aid groups. And that is because the payment system called Phoenix that USAID relies on to disperse financial assistance has been inaccessible for weeks.”
“So as you may know, Mr. Natsios, the outbreak of diseases, infectious diseases is one of the big things that USAID helps to prevent. This is why I think we all should be so horrified that because of Elon Musk’s illegal takeover of USAID. USAID is no longer able to screen travelers at airports leaving Uganda, where there is currently an Ebola outbreak that Americans have already been infected by.
“Mr. Natsios, you led USAID, correct? Do you think stopping the screening of travelers makes America more or less safe?”
Mr. Andrew Natsios: “It makes us less safe. But I would add that there is over the last 30 years, we built a system in 90 southern countries for monitoring all infectious diseases, and that’s the early warning system. So if an outbreak of any disease takes place, we know about it. The countries where it, like China were, Covid started, there’s – I’m not – I certainly wouldn’t advocate being having an AID mission there – but the countries where there’s an AID mission, the ministries of health have been trained and there’s a, a comprehensive, early warning system to protect us. That system is, in terms of aid, support for it has been shut down.”
Rep. Sara Jacobs: “That’s right.”
Mr. Andrew Natsios: “I might also add…”
Rep. Sara Jacobs: “Sorry, I just want to reclaim my time. So I have a few more questions, but I completely agree with you. So let’s take my Republican colleagues at your word. You want to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse? I agree with that. You want to reform how USAID does its work? I agree with that too. In fact, I have bipartisan legislation to do that, that I’m happy to work with you, Mr. Mast on. But let’s talk about what’s actually happening. So, Mr. Natsios, again, would you consider yourself liberal or woke in any way?”
Mr. Andrew Natsios: “No.”
Rep. Sara Jacobs: “Okay, great. Do you believe that USAID is a criminal agency plagued by waste, fraud, and abuse?”
Mr. Andrew Natsios: “No.”
Rep. Sara Jacobs: “And on February 4th, nearly the entire USAID workforce was notified that they were being placed on administrative leave. Mr. Natsios, would you say that removing the majority of the staff responsible for overseeing USAID programs increases or decreases the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse?”
Mr. Andrew Natsios: “Well, it increases it because of the oversight of AID – AID offices are there for oversight. That’s what they do. 40% of the staff of AID are compliance officers. They spend all day trying to make sure these things don’t happen. They do happen sometimes because of where we work.”
Rep. Sara Jacobs: “And, the USAID inspector general agreed with you, as the Ranking Member, entered into the record, stated that all of USAID oversight controls are largely non-operational. But instead of addressing this problem, Trump actually fired the inspector general who released this report the very next day. Mr. Natsios, does firing USAID inspector General generally reduce or increase waste, fraud, and abuse?”
Mr. Andrew Natsios: “Well, Congresswoman, I’m trying to stay out of the vitriol here, but, the inspector general is there to investigate abuse. And let me tell you how it works. People think that they watch us, and then they find this stuff, and then they arrest us. And that’s not how it works. The 80% of the investigations done by AID are initiated by AID compliance officers, who call the IG and say, there’s a problem. You need to come in here and fix it. So then they work with them.”
Rep. Sara Jacobs: “Just to clarify, not only is this freeze endangering Americans, but Trump and Musk’s argument for stopping this assistance to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse is a complete lie because they are doing the opposite. That’s because this is not about oversight. It’s not about reform. It’s about completely gutting foreign assistance itself. With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.”
Background: Earlier this week, Rep. Sara Jacobs introduced the Protect U.S. National Security Act, which reiterates that any USAID reform should abide by existing laws and not harm American soft power, prohibits the use of funds to eliminate USAID as an independent agency, and requires annual certification of this prohibition by the Secretary of State. Rep. Sara Jacobs is the Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, which also oversees USAID, foreign assistance, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and global health.
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