House Foreign Affairs Ranking Member Meeks, Shaheen Demand Answers in Letter to Rubio on Foreign Assistance Oversight Obstruction
Washington, D.C. - Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio raising concerns that the State Department may be illegally impeding the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) from conducting statutorily mandated oversight of U.S. foreign assistance.
The letter comes following recent, significant changes to foreign assistance and operations, including humanitarian and development funding cuts and an alarming lack of transparency surrounding these decisions, underscoring the need for thorough, independent oversight.
A PDF copy of the letter can be found here.
“Congress in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and subsequent legislation has consistently reiterated its intention that USAID OIG conduct foreign assistance oversight because these programs are implemented by multiple federal entities and require specialized oversight because programs are implemented overseas, often in conflict zones, with high fraud, diversion, and corruption risks. Nonetheless, we understand that you directed the USAID OIG to stop conducting its statutorily required oversight over foreign assistance programs via a July 1, 2025,‘All Diplomatic and Consular Posts’ (ALDAC) cable.
“The effort to restrict the work of USAID OIG is a violation of federal law. . . The law further states that the definition of USAID includes ‘any successor agency primarily responsible for administering Part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961’ — giving USAID OIG clear responsibility for oversight of the programs and funding in question even if they are transferred to another agency. Given the monumental changes to foreign assistance funding and operations, a lack of adequate oversight is especially troubling.”
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