EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Jim Risch aims to eliminate $40 million agency, give its powers to State: “Good riddance.
THE LOWDOWN:
Sen. Jim Risch (R., Idaho), the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is rolling out an ambitious plan designed to save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and streamline American foreign assistance.
Risch is rolling out the United States African Development Foundation Dissolution Act, which would both abolish the US African Development Foundation (USADF) and transfer its responsibilities to the State Department.
“Good riddance,” Risch said.
Sen. Jim Risch (R., Idaho), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is rolling out an ambitious plan obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter designed to save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and streamline American foreign assistance.
Senator Risch has long been considered a leader in fighting against wasteful foreign aid and aid that counters American interests, and was a constant thorn in the Biden administration’s side as it tried to use foreign aid for progressive political purposes.
Risch is rolling out the United States African Development Foundation Dissolution Act, which would both abolish the US African Development Foundation (USADF) and transfer its responsibilities to the State Department.
Risch’s office said that “ensuring strict alignment of U.S. small grants programs in Africa with the national security and economic interests of the American people.”
“Any dollar of potential waste is worth exploring, and these $40 million deserve to go back to the taxpayers,” Risch said. “Good riddance.”
The legislation comes after Risch has spent years feuding with the USADF.
The senator has repeatedly demanded investigations of USADF over allegations, including from whistleblowers, of “misuse of official funds; fraudulent spending and record keeping; conflicts of interest among USADF management, board members, and private-sector/non-governmental partner; gross mismanagement, including inadequate staffing for compliance and oversight functions; inappropriate, abusive, and discriminatory management practices; and management efforts to suppress evidence of wrongdoing.”
The Idaho lawmaker has spent years investigating what he has called “corrupt and potentially unlawful” practices that many at the agency may be aware of, as he wrote to the acting Inspector General of the U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID) in 2023.
Beyond USADF fostering a “toxic workplace” that “actively sought to exclude veterans and individuals who are not of African descent from hiring, and [that] retaliated against employees who dared to raise questions about the misuse of officials funds,” Risch noted in the past that USADF was rife with “conflicts of interest and inappropriate partnerships” and “gross mismanagement, including inadequate staffing of positions critical for compliance and oversight.”
Oversight is nothing new for Risch; the Reporter previously covered his extensive work to counter the Chinese Communist Party.
Senator Risch has also been leading the fight to keep trans men out of women’s sports, demanding the Olympics comply with President Trump’s order to protect women’s sports. A Senate Republican insider said, “Jim Risch doesn’t just talk the talk–he walks the walk and is well known for being one of the most aggressive fighters for the America First agenda. A lot of what DOGE is accomplishing now is because of Jim Risch’s leadership over the years shining a light on the waste and fraud.”