The Biden-era free-for-all at USAID is officially coming to an end. As President Donald Trump and DOGE chairman Elon Musk set their sights on shutting down the waste-ridden international aid agency, former USAID and State Department official Catharine O’Neill Gillihan is stepping forward with damning allegations of fraud, mismanagement, and a complete lack of accountability.
Speaking on Varney & Co. Wednesday, O’Neill Gillihan described an agency out of control, where officials had no way of tracking spending and struggled to align USAID’s actions with the Secretary of State’s directives.
“We would try to keep USAID in line with the Secretary of State because, technically, USAID responds to the Secretary of State, and it was very difficult. There was no traceability, no accountability, and it was really hard for us to do our jobs.”
Gillihan’s first-hand account gives fuel to the Trump administration’s argument that USAID has gone rogue—spending billions of taxpayer dollars on wasteful, politically motivated projects while dodging oversight.
The Trump administration has already begun the most aggressive crackdown on USAID in the agency’s 63-year history—and Musk is leading the charge.
- Over the weekend, Musk’s DOGE team seized classified documents at USAID despite lacking security clearance, according to the Associated Press.
- By Sunday, the USAID website went dark.
- By Monday, thousands of employees found themselves locked out of their offices, with projects immediately put on hold.
The message is clear: The Trump administration is done funding bloated bureaucracies that burn through taxpayer money on feel-good globalist projects with no real oversight.
“Sesame Street” in Peru? The Spending Is Out of Control
If USAID was focused on disaster relief and humanitarian crises, that might be one thing. But according to Gillihan, the agency’s spending priorities have spiraled into absurdity.
“The list goes on and on and on. I think I read recently that they were funding a ‘Sesame Street’ program in Peru. I mean, these programs have gotten so out of control.”
At a time when America is drowning in debt, sending millions to teach Muppets to kids in South America isn’t just frivolous—it’s an insult to taxpayers.
As Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio push to dismantle USAID and absorb its functions into the State Department, left-wing critics are predictably crying foul.
But Gillihan made it clear: That was the agency’s original design all along.
“USAID was created in 1961 by President Kennedy under executive order. His idea was that the agency would be housed under the Department of State. So President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are totally within their right to bring USAID back under the Department of State. It’s within its original mandate.”
The U.S. already outspends every other country on foreign aid—dropping a staggering $68 billion in 2023 alone, with $40 billion funneled directly to USAID (BBC).
And for what? Funding leftist pet projects in foreign countries? Propping up corrupt regimes? Bankrolling foreign wars while American cities crumble?
The Trump administration says enough is enough.
Gillihan offered an interesting take on Musk’s newfound role in government—suggesting that he’s the closest thing America has ever had to a national CFO.
“So Donald Trump, as the CEO of the United States of America, has deputized Elon Musk, who I see as the de facto controller of America, reviewing every penny that’s going out the door.”
And Trump has every right to do it.
“Article II of the Constitution gives the president that right, as it’s called the vesting clause, to review the powers of this government and to make sure that all of the spending is aligned with our interests.”
