USAID activists say stopping ‘corporate welfare’ outweighs ending funds to terror-linked groups

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Protesters rallying against the sweep of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) say that ending “corporate welfare” should be prioritized over looking at money being reportedly funneled to terror-linked groups.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been conducting a review of “waste” identified within USAID, the government agency that handles the distribution of foreign aid.

According to an analysis by the Middle East Forum, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the USAID and State Department have funneled at least $122 million to groups aligned with designated terrorists and their supporters. A White House report also identified $15 million of taxpayer dollars being spent on condoms for the Taliban, a known terrorist group.

On Wednesday, Fox News Digital asked individuals protesting the USAID cuts outside the U.S. Capitol their thoughts about the agency reportedly funding terrorist-aligned groups. 

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“I don’t want to hear anything about funding until we stop corporate welfare,” one protester, who was wearing a mask, told Fox News Digital.

“I think before we talk about funding that we’re sending off to other countries or devoting to poor people in this country that need help,” he added, “we need to talk about the billions in subsidies that we give to corporations like Tesla, like Space X.”

Another individual, also wearing a mask, said giving money to issues that don’t prioritize helping Americans is “crazy.”

“We need to be worrying about our people. We’re not out here giving money to help our people here and suffering,” they told Fox. “Any money going toward other issues is just crazy.”

Asked about funding to terrorist-linked groups, Michael, a member of Veterans for Peace, said, “Funding has to be looked at, but I would suspect that that’s a very small minority of the funding that the U.S. does.”

“Foreign aid is less than 1% of the U.S. budget. So it’s a very small monetary number,” he added. “And like all programs, it needs to be evaluated every so often. And I think that the small number of programs who supposedly are connected with unsavory type groups are in the minority.”

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The protesters all expressed opposition to Musk’s role in the Trump administration as he spearheads efforts to cut costs within the federal government.

“If the White House would take the time to look at where the funding goes, I think they’d be more than happy with the results and the impact of U.S. taxpayer dollars to make the U.S. safer, stronger, and more prosperous,” said Mary, who is retired.

Several Democratic lawmakers spoke at the rally, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, and Reps. John Garamendi and Lateefah Simon of California.

The White House issued a report that revealed where taxpayer dollars have been funneled through the agency, such as over $400,000 to “help Indonesian coffee companies become more climate and gender friendly through USAID.”

Musk said on X that he and President Donald Trump came to an agreement that the agency needed to be shut down.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Woodhead contributed to this report.