![Pro-USAID Protesters Disrupt Hearing—Brian Mast Drops the Fact Check Hammer [WATCH]](https://parlerpulse.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2025.02.03-10.35-rvmnews-67a09bdc1da32-Z2lAT7.jpeg)
The debate over the Trump administration’s spending freeze on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has intensified, with Democrats arguing the move threatens life-saving humanitarian aid, while Republicans maintain the agency has become a funding mechanism for leftist projects abroad.
The issue took center stage on Thursday during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing titled “The USAID Betrayal.”
The spending halt followed an audit by the Department of Global Engagement (DOGE), which raised concerns about the allocation of funds.
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt recently outlined several USAID expenditures that Republicans view as wasteful.
“1.5 million dollars to advance DEI in Serbia’s workplaces. $70,000 for a production of a DEI musical in Ireland. $47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia. $32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru,” Leavitt stated in a press briefing.
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Despite these findings, Democrats have continued to defend USAID funding. Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA) voiced his support for the agency, claiming its mission is crucial.
“We’re here today, not only to fight for federal employees who dedicate themselves every day to a humanitarian task. We are here to save lives, because that is what USAID does,” Connolly said during a protest.
During Thursday’s hearing, chaired by Representative Brian Mast (R-FL), the discussion was briefly interrupted by protesters calling for the restoration of AIDS relief funding under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
The protesters unfurled banners and chanted, “PEPFAR saves lives. Restore AIDS funding now” as they were removed from the hearing room.
Mast responded to the disruption, pointing out that PEPFAR’s funding had already been reinstated.
“I guess these guys don’t watch the news. They didn’t realize that PEPFAR was one of the many programs that did prove to be life-saving, so the funding was restored. Somebody better give them a link to, I don’t know, maybe Fox News or something like that,” Mast remarked.
PEPFAR, established in 2003, provides funding for AIDS relief programs worldwide.
The program’s funding had come under review, but as DOGE leader Elon Musk indicated in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, the funding was largely preserved.
Additionally, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has put in place exemptions to ensure critical aid is not disrupted.
Congressional Republicans detailed the exemptions in a memo, stating that Rubio’s directive allows for continued funding of “life-saving medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance, as well as supplies and reasonable administrative costs as necessary to deliver such assistance.”
As the hearing continued, lawmakers debated whether USAID funding should be scrutinized more closely or restored in full.
While Democrats insist that the agency’s work is critical to humanitarian efforts, Republicans argue that taxpayer dollars should not fund ideological projects overseas.
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