Marjorie Taylor Greene & Matt Gaetz want to abolish USAID for its “perverse ideology”

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has introduced a bill – cosponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and several other far-right Republican House members – to abolish the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a federal agency that administers foreign aid and developmental assistance worldwide. Gaetz is accusing USAID of using its funds “to spread perverse ideology, that is antithetical to functioning, well-ordered society, across the globe.”

Included in that “perverse ideology,” according to the bill, are women’s equality and LGBTQ+ rights.

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The bill cites several grants USAID gave in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other countries that help women. One paragraph says that “USAID meddles in local elections” by supporting “women, youth, and other traditionally marginalized groups.” The resolution claims that helping women and young people comes at the expense “of the interests of the other nations’ citizenry,” namely older men.

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The bill also targets LGBTQ+ initiatives. It says that USAID gave $1 million of its $27 billion annual budget – or less than 0.004% of its yearly funds – to the United Nations for “LGBTI human rights advocacy in Asia.” The resolution does not explain why human rights for LGBTQ+ people are bad or part of a “perverse ideology.”

The bill cites a smaller $370,000 grant for LGBTQ+ human rights in Armenia, a $1.1 million grant to the Armenian LGBTQ+ organization Pink Human Rights Defender, and an approximately $300,000 grant for the U.S. State Department’s LGBTI advisor Ryan Kaminski.

The bill, if passed, would abolish USAID and force the organization to transfer its assets and liabilities to the State Department.

“American taxpayer dollars are being wasted to fund radical leftist propaganda in foreign countries,” Gaetz said in a statement. “USAID does not serve a meaningful purpose. It is used as a slush fund for international wokeism. Therefore, serious lawmakers in Congress should support its complete abolition.”

“The United States is committed to supporting human rights, social inclusion, and fundamental freedoms, including for members of historically marginalized populations,” a USAID spokesperson told the Washington Blade. “As part of this commitment, USAID works with our partners on the ground to advance LGBTQI+-inclusive development and the rights of LGBTQI+ people. Through our work and partnerships over many decades and in countries around the world, we know that advancing respect for human rights and individual dignity makes societies stronger, healthier, more prosperous and more capable of peacefully resolving differences.” 

Along with Gaetz and Greene, Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), and Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) are initial cosponsors of the bill. All are from the far right of the Republican Party.