The State Department's proposed foreign aid projects have shifted to being centered around how can these projects strengthen America's own national security.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a signing ceremony for a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the State Department, Friday, June 27, 2025, in Washington.
. Members of Congress received a document from the Trump administration outlining its objective to redirect $1.8 billion of foreign aid funding for projects, already authorized by Congress, to foreign aid projects aligned with President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda. Congressional members received the plan on September 12, giving them a tight time frame — only 19 days until the end of the 2025 fiscal year on September 30 — to either approve the State Department's plan or push back against it and risk losing the funding by the time the year ends, theThe State Department's proposed foreign aid funding projects have shifted from solely seeking to provide humanitarian to countries struggling with famine, disease and war to now being centered around how can these projects strengthen America's own national security and interests. For example, one of the projects the State Department is seeking to invest into is centered around supporting "U.S. immigration priorities" in Africa. The State Department is also seeking to fund projects combatting "Marxist, anti-American regimes" in Latin America, as well as “economic development and conservation work” in Greenland. Trump has previously said that the United States will “go as far as we have to go” to obtain control of Greenland, in an effort to harness its natural resources. Meanwhile, the Trump administration includes projects previously defunded by the administration such as earmarking $175 million for West Bank and Gaza and $150 million for Iraq. “The national security interests of the United States require that the United States utilize these foreign assistance funds to meet new challenges in ways that make America safer, stronger or more prosperous," the document stated. Some of the projects laid out by the State Department have already garnered bipartisan support such as assisting United States allies in the Pacific in an effort to counter Chinese aggression. However, if Congress decides to completely agree to the Trump administration's decision to completely shift funding for projects already approved by Congress, it risks eroding their authority laid out in the Constitution over the federal budget. Ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Jeanne Shaheen accused the Trump of “attempting to raid programs that Congress has authorized and appropriated to strengthen democracy, advance peace and support vulnerable communities and instead funnel that money into an unaccountable slush fund," in a statement to the Washington Post. In August, the Trump administration notified House Speaker Mike Johnson in a letter that he intended to rescind approximately $4.9 billion from the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development and International Assistance programs, in an effort to codify cuts made under the Department of Government Efficiency. “Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law,” Susan Collins , who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said. However, earlier this month the Supreme Court issued an emergency order allowing for the Trump administration's freezing of billions of dollars in foreign aid to remain in effect.
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