Two GOP senators will introduce a bill that seeks to reallocate funds taken from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to pay for veterans housing, the Washington Examiner first reported on Thursday.
Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., are expected to introduce the Veterans First Act of 2025 in the Senate on Thursday and aim to see a substantial portion of the funds cut from USAID transferred over to Department of Veterans Affairs. Since the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has begun exposing waste and fraud in the federal government, an estimated 90% of foreign aid contracts, amounting to $60 billion, have been cut from the agency.
"From the unobligated balance of amounts made available to the United States Agency for International Development, $2,000,000,000 is hereby permanently rescinded," the bill reads, adding that funds are to be appropriated for "grants to assist States to acquire or construct State nursing home and domiciliary facilities and to remodel, modify, or alter existing hospital, nursing home, and domiciliary facilities – for the purpose of furnishing care for veterans."
In February, the Trump administration moved to entirely shutdown the long-standing agency over concerns the organization's mission had become wasteful and overwrought with left-wing policies that run counter to the new administration's agenda. Last week, final preparations were being made to close the doors completely with some employees asked to assist in facilitating a "responsible drawdown."
The White House and DOGE have come under fire for their "drastic and erratic" maneuvers, with the agency having some contracts canceled only to restore them a week later with scant explanation. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., called the USAID cuts "a betrayal of American values" adding, "Not only is this sweeping aid cut illegal and counterproductive, but it hurts American farmer – And now, hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of such commodities are stranded in ports, rotting away at the direction of the new administration."