Hill Republicans say Biden administration ignoring multiple oversight requests on $15B in USAID

Congressional Republicans want answers from the Biden administration about funding the U.S. Agency for International Development gives to partner organizations, saying the agency has repeatedly denied request to hand over such data.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) are demanding answers in a letter Monday to USAID Administrator Samantha Power. 

The agency issued nearly $15 billion last fiscal year but has yet to respond to multiple requests since November 2022 to break down its Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreements with more than 300 organizations and companies, many of which are stationed outside of the United States, the lawmakers say.

Ernst says she sent the agency in February a database of its publicly reported agreements for indirect cost, including rent, and that the agency responded by saying it is "legally restricted" from sharing such information with Congress. The agency followed up days later by saying that the information is "confidential."

"It is concerning that USAID refuses to provide information to Senator Ernst and myself on these troubling grounds," McCaul said letter. "As stewards of taxpayer dollars, members of Congress are responsible for ensuring that such funds are not unduly wasted on paying for awardee’s rent in Geneva or Rome or Paris."

The lawmakers are requesting for USAID to allow them to access the agency's rate database and provide documents about all indirect cost rates since Jan. 21, 2021 as well as materials about USAID's policies regarding the rates. 

Madeleine Hubbard is an international correspondent for Just the News. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.