An internal memo being circulated to House Republicans is urging lawmakers to argue that President Donald Trump’s handling of foreign aid is ‘already paying dividends’ and that the Biden administration spent that money on initiatives like ‘a transgender opera in Colombia through the State Department.’
The three-page document, obtained by Fox News Digital through a House GOP source, is being sent to members of Republican leadership as well as lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
It includes two pages of recommended talking points, including, ‘America is spending $40 billion in foreign aid annually. Much of those aid dollars are not even reaching the intended recipients and are instead propping up an NGO industrial complex that has, for years, swindled the American taxpayer.’
The memo urged Republicans to argue Trump’s freeze on foreign aid ‘is needed because it’s nearly impossible to evaluate foreign aid programs when they are on autopilot.’
‘A 90-day review period, with commonsense waivers for truly life-threatening situations, is the only way to give the State Department the time needed to root out waste,’ it said.
The State Department issued a freeze on most federal foreign aid days after Trump was sworn into office. Within recent days, Trump and Elon Musk’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (DOGE) have also led a significant scale-back of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), including making Secretary of State Marco Rubio its acting head.
Opponents of the moves have said it would embolden authoritarian governments that want to see the United States’ stature on the world stage diminished and that it would imperil thousands of lives abroad that depend on the aid.
But Republicans like House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast, R-Fla., a top Trump ally, argue that the moves are justified to evaluate what money is actually going to foreign assistance that aligns with Trump’s agenda.
‘America’s foreign aid is not charity and its goal should not be to advance DEI abroad,’ the committee wrote on X on Monday.
The memo also encouraged lawmakers to point out existing exceptions for ’emergency food assistance’ and ‘life-saving medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance, as well as supplies and reasonable administrative costs as necessary to deliver such assistance.’
The third page is dedicated to highlighting where committee Republicans tracked foreign aid as going toward, including ‘$39,652 to host seminars at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on gender identity and racial equality through the State Department’ and ‘$425,622 to help Indonesian coffee companies become more climate and gender friendly through USAID.’
Other priorities listed included ‘$14 million in cash vouchers for migrants at the southern border through the State Department,’ ‘$446,700 to promote the expansion of atheism in Nepal through the State Department’ and ‘$32,000 for an LGBTQ-centered comic book in Peru.’
A group of House Democrats said they were denied entry into USAID headquarters on Monday amid reports of a scale-back in senior officials and others.
‘We are not going to let this injustice happen. Congress created this agency with the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, and if you want to change it, you got to change that law,’ said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va.
It’s not clear if all Republicans are on board with Trump’s push, however. A vote to defund USAID last year led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., failed with 127 GOP lawmakers voting against it, compared to 81 in support.
But Trump’s handling of foreign aid has been backed by Republicans known to be national security hawks, including previous House Foreign Affairs Chair Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas.
‘President Trump and his team are right to scrutinize and revamp U.S. foreign aid distribution to ensure every taxpayer dollar serves its intended purpose. And I am optimistic they will do it in a way that strengthens the intention behind these programs and strengthens our national security,’ McCaul said.