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OPINION

Dems Love Transparency, Until Sunshine Exposes Their Waste

shutdown of government agency by presidential administration in the united states

A pile of building letters are seen after a worker removed the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) sign on their headquarters - Feb. 7, 2025 - Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) shutdown the U.S. aid agency. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Michael Dorstewitz By Monday, 10 February 2025 11:46 AM EST Current | Bio | Archive

Democrats are always screaming that they want more transparency in government — until they get it. Then they say not that transparency — just the good kind — the kind that makes the GOP look bad.

Recent findings by the impromptu Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is a case in point.

President Trump ran for reelection on the promise to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government, and assigned billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk to supervise that task, scheduled for completion on July 4, 2026 — America’s 250th birthday.

As of today, this administration is only three weeks old, and what the government waste DOGE has uncovered in one small federal entity — the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) — within that brief period, is astounding.

Millions have been sent to other countries for woke projects that promote items like transgenderism, climate change, and electric vehicles.

Additional millions have been given to groups that promote illegal immigration and others aligned with foreign terrorist organizations.

It prompted Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. to deliver a 16-minute speech on the U.S. Senate floor Friday, during which he noted that "USAID has 10,000 people employees, and every year they give away $40 billion."

He then asked his colleagues, "Where the hell is all the money?"

Kennedy answered his own question by listing some of the frivolous, even dangerous, foreign contributions that have been run through USAID.

Contributions included supporting electric vehicles in Vietnam, a Serbian LGBTQ group, a transgender clinic in India, sex changes in Guatemala, organizations in Gaza controlled by Hamas terrorists, and organizations with ties to other terrorist groups.

On Sunday, investigative journalist Catherine Herridge reported a federal payment that was truly jaw-dropping.

"STUNNING," she began. Looks like USAID supported college tuition for Anwar Aulaqi (Awlaki) who later became a high level al Qaeda terrorist."

Herridge continued, "Aulaqi falsely claimed he was born in Yemen to secure the financial help via the State Dept. when he was actually a U.S. citizen, born in Las Cruces New Mexico."

She added, "Aulaqi would later develop close ties with several 9/11 hijackers and attain leadership status in AQ's Yemen affiliate."

"Aulaqi was the godfather of the digital jihad that leveraged his writings and the web to radicalize Americans to AQ's cause."

Why would USAID pay college tuition of anyone claiming to be a foreign national?

This misdirection of taxpayer dollars by USAID is "just the tip of the iceberg," according to a former White House liaison to the agency.

"It's egregious," Catharine O'Neill Gillihan told Newsmax. "There is so much more within the State Department as well. I worked at both the State Department and USAID during Trump's first term, and I can't even start on the stuff that I saw."

Last week Senate Democrats condemned both DOGE and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a letter they sent to the secretary.

"Senate Democrats are deeply concerned with the so-called 'Department of Government Efficiency’ ('DOGE'), Elon Musk, and his unnamed team’s seemingly hostile takeover of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service’s central payment systems," the letter said.

Senate Democrats demanded that Bessent meet with them to "bring transparency," adding "the Senators are concerned about 'DOGE' having access to the management and disbursement of trillions of dollars and the highly sensitive information of millions of Americans."

DOGE is actually bringing unprecedented transparency to government, suggesting that Senate Democrats either don’t understand what the word "transparency" means, or don’t really want an open, transparent government.

When Sen. Kennedy delivered his floor speech Friday, he told his Democratic colleagues that they were getting upset simply because the president was making good on a central campaign promise upon which he was elected.

"I wanna try to put in perspective what many of my Democratic friends have been talking about today," he said. "They're very, very, very upset at President Trump, and they're very, very, very upset at Elon Musk."

But the American people are not upset — they’re ecstatic.

A new CBSNews/YouGov survey revealed that an all-time high percentage of Americans say they approve of the job Trump is doing.

A total of 53% of U.S. adults say they approve of the president’s overall job performance, and 70% say he’s doing what he had promised on the campaign trail.

It’s often been said that sunlight is the best disinfectant, and just by shedding light on USAID — a relatively small agency — the air smells cleaner, feels crisper.

If Democrats want to continue winning elections, they’d best get on board with the DOGE audits. America is watching.

Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and a Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


MichaelDorstewitz
It’s often been said that sunlight is the best disinfectant, and just by shedding light on USAID, the air smells cleaner, feels crisper. If Democrats want to continue winning elections, they’d best get on board with the DOGE audits. America is watching.
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Monday, 10 February 2025 11:46 AM
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