It's important that the Trump administration continues to "follow the money" when it comes to stopping excess spending through the U.S. Agency for International Development, even with a judge blocking firings temporarily, Rep. Ryan Zinke, a former secretary of the Interior, told Newsmax Sunday.
"When I came in as secretary of Interior, I did largely the same," the Montana Republican said on Newsmax's "Sunday Report." "I shut the grants down until I knew where the grants were going. Did they agree to an audit? Was the grant behind? Was it behind some sort of congressional intent?"
USAID has been targeted as part of the Department of Government Efficiency's spending crackdown, and Zinke said that there should be "no debate" about accountability and making sure a government agency's spending is transparent.
"What we're finding is billions and billions of dollars have been transferred," he said. "These programs, No. 1, they never had an audit. No. 2, Congress didn't know about it. No. 3, it's hidden."
At the same time, Zinke said he doesn't "think the taxpayer should be paying one dime to any program that the taxpayers and Congress and the president don't know about."
Zinke added that when he came in as a secretary in President Donald Trump's first Cabinet, "I shut down the grants because I didn't know where the money was."
"We don't even have a database," he said of the current situation. "I sit on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and the Department of State does not have a database — a single database — or where we can track where the grants are."
This means the administration must continue to "go after the money, see where it's being distributed, and stop the flow until we can get a handle on where the taxpayer dollars are going," Zinke added. "I think that's absolutely prudent and fair."
Zinke also on Sunday commented on Trump's plans for redeveloping Gaza, noting that he doesn't think anyone saw the news coming.
"Thinking it through, what is absolutely clear is the Palestinian people have to have a hope and a future, and right now they do not," he said. "The Gaza Strip itself is a result of the 1967 war, and it is largely a refugee camp strip, but it needs some economic development and a future. And, look, if we're going to take the lead on it, you know, I'm behind President Trump."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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