As President Donald Trump promotes his "America First" ethos, Congress is gearing up to ship $50 billion overseas, despite howls about waste, fraud, and unmet priorities at home.
Congressional leaders have rolled out a bipartisan compromise on the Fiscal Year 2026 National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, which sets aside $50 billion for diplomacy, foreign aid, and international efforts.
While that is a 16% trim from last year's $59.8 billion, it still tops the Trump administration's $31.52 billion ask by nearly $19 billion, with much of it funneled through programs run by nongovernmental organizations that Congress doesn't bother naming upfront — leaving the State Department to pick winners later via grants and contracts.
Critics say the system is a setup ripe for cronyism, waste, and zero immediate accountability to taxpayers who foot the bill for what amounts to a globalist giveaway, and they cite NGOs that have previously received such grants.
Some are affiliated with George Soros' Open Society Foundations and other left-leaning organizations. The Vera Institute of Justice has benefited, often for programs promoting progressive agendas like immigration reform.
Other examples include the Tides Center, which has received millions while sponsoring projects like Palestine Legal, and the East-West Management Institute, funded for judicial reforms abroad seen as favoring the political left.
Other problematic entities, such as Palestinian rights groups like Al-Haq, have ties to Soros-funded entities and have indirectly received U.S. support.
This year's $50 billion deal comes after the Trump team dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development in 2025, folding the remnants of USAID into the State Department to tighten the reins on spending.
While chunks of the $50 billion pie include funding embassy security and diplomat safety, global health gets $9.4 billion, backing programs such as PEPFAR for HIV/AIDS, and a new National Security Investment Programs account grabs $6.8 billion for economic boosts, food security, education, and women's empowerment abroad.
Humanitarian aid clocks in at $5.5 billion, with new rules for transparency to track every dollar. International organizations, including the United Nations, snag $3.3 billion, while an $850 million America First Opportunity Fund offers quick cash for surprise foreign policy needs. Security aid includes $3.3 billion for Israel, $1.8 billion to counter China in the Indo-Pacific, and $150 million to battle fentanyl and synthetic drugs.
In an interview with Newsmax, John Pitney, a professor of American politics at Claremont McKenna College, explains it this way: The aid counters adversaries such as China and supports allies such as Israel.
"PEPFAR and other humanitarian projects burnish America's image by saving lives – doing well by doing good," he said.
Lawmakers, said Pitney, are also responding to media stories about the consequences of cuts in food and medical aid, and religious organizations are reinforcing the message that the cuts cost lives.
For example, a New York Times opinion piece in September by Nicholas Kristof warned that Trump-era cuts to aid were depleting food and medicine stockpiles, leading to child deaths from treatable conditions like typhoid and malaria.
Bipartisan backers, including Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, and House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., frame the bill as a smart balance, while advocacy groups like InterAction and Aid on the Hill cheer it on, with the latter organizing letter campaigns to push passage before the Jan. 30 funding deadline.
But not everyone's popping champagne. The Trump administration blasts the total as too high, pushing for an America First reset with $22.3 billion in cuts from old funds. But House Republicans started with a $46.2 billion version.
Fiscal conservatives are firing back hard, warning the bill balloons the $3 trillion national debt without real reforms. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., tried to slash $16 billion from foreign aid via an amendment, tying it to efficiency goals from the Department of Government Efficiency.
It failed 27-73 in the Senate roll call, with Paul observing that "not a peep was heard on the Republican side" as GOP senators resorted to "hand signals only," a telltale sign of their "embarrassment" over rejecting the foreign aid cuts.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., piled on with amendments to axe $3.3 billion for Israel, $2.1 billion for Jordan, and $1.5 billion for Egypt, aiming to save taxpayers $6.9 billion. Those efforts fell short, too.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, decried earmarks as the currency of corruption, and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., warned of Democrats turning the bill into a slush fund for pet projects.
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) draws special fire. This nonprofit, funded at $315 million in the bill, promotes elections, human rights, and free media in more than 90 countries.
But conservatives call it biased and wasteful. A 2024 Heritage Foundation report accused NED of hiring mostly Democrats and ignoring Republicans, violating balance rules. It funded groups like the Global Disinformation Index, which flagged conservative U.S. media as risky, and a Ukraine outfit that doxed American conservatives as Russian propagandists.
Trump's 2025 budget sought to end NED cash, and Elon Musk labeled NED a scam rife with corruption. But when Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., pushed an amendment to zero out its funding, it failed 127-291, with 81 Republicans siding with Democrats.
Then there's the angle of NGOs handling much of the aid. The bill doesn't name specific recipients; that's decided later by State through grants and contracts. Taxpayers often learn details only after the fact via databases like USAspending.gov.
Pitney and others note that much of the money goes to NGOs because they have relevant expertise.
But trust is thin after scandals like Feeding Our Future in Minneapolis. There, a nonprofit and accomplices stole $250 million from federal child nutrition programs during COVID-19, claiming to feed kids but pocketing cash for luxuries. It's part of broader probes into $9 billion in potential Minnesota safety net fraud.
Trump calls Minnesota the tip of an iceberg, predicting that when the IRS looks into California and other states, fraud will be much worse.
And pro-MAGA types are all over social media bashing out-of-control "uni-party" spending that seemingly makes a mockery of the America First agenda. Hence, a June podcast featuring Vice President JD Vance is going viral again now.
Vance cited Secretary of State Marco Rubio's team analysis of a USAID report: 88 cents of every humanitarian dollar gets scooped by middlemen, leaving just 12 cents for those in need, like poor kids in Africa, with Vance describing a chain of NGOs subcontracting, each taking a cut.
As the bill heads to final votes, it spotlights GOP rifts – between global engagers and home-first hawks. For everyday Americans eyeing their tax bills, it's a reminder: every overseas dollar spent is one less for roads, schools, law enforcement, and debt relief back home.
Paul Bond has been a journalist for three decades, writing stories reporters in legacy media typically ignore. His work has primarily appeared in Newsweek, USA Today, Reuters, and The Hollywood Reporter. Follow him on X at: @WriterPaulBond.
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