Sen. Andy Kim calls USAID funding freeze ‘ridiculous’
Billions of dollars of aid to other countries are now frozen because of the Trump administration order.
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Democratic U.S. Sen. Andy Kim is criticizing the Trump administration freezing funding to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Billions of dollars of aid to other countries are now frozen because of the order. USAID first came into being during the Cold War. Now it is used for things like countering Russian or Chinese influence in foreign countries and funding HIV clinics in Africa.
Kim says he got his start at that agency. He calls the cut in funding outrageous.
“I just find that to be absolutely ridiculous. This is no way to govern. This is no way to treat public servants, and this is no way for us to conduct our foreign policy as a country,” Kim said.
The U.S. spent $40 billion in foreign aid in 2023.
It is unclear if the freeze will last or if USAID will be eliminated altogether. Thousands of workers could be laid off.
President Donald Trump recently said his administration was getting rid of the “radical lunatics” who run USAID, and once that is done, he said he will decide its future.
