Dr. Rand Paul Forces Vote on Codifying Secretary Rubio and DOGE’s Foreign Aid Cuts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March14,2025
Contact:Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul(R-KY),Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), forced a vote on his amendment to codify Secretary of State Rubio and DOGE’s cuts to foreign aid. Dr. Paul’s amendment would have saved the American taxpayers $16 billion on an annualized basis, cutting most of the waste, fraud, and abuse that has plagued USAID for decades. The final vote was 27-73.
“If we continue to spend at current levels, as this bill plans to do, it will add $2 trillion to the debt this year. My amendment would have put DOGE’s findings into action, eliminating funding for an agency that spent its taxpayer dollars on woke entertainment and advocacy, and set in law the reductions that the Trump administration has made known to be necessary,”said Dr. Paul.“DOGE’s cuts are only real in the long term if they are reflected in congressional action. If we continue to fund the federal government at the Biden administration’s levels, then the money from DOGE’s hard-found savings will just be spent somewhere else.”
Secretary Rubio and DOGE have spent months identifying rampant waste in foreign aid. However, the budget proposed by Congress continues to fund those programs. It maintains $400 million more than pre-pandemic levels, despite the nation’s spiraling $36 trillion of debt. Dr. Paul’s amendment reduced USAID’s budget in accordance with Secretary Rubio and DOGE’s cuts, amounting to $16 billion in annualized savings. The amendment set in law the reductions that the Trump administration has made known to be necessary and allowed Congress to put the excess money towards our mounting debt.
You can read Dr. Paul’s amendmentHERE, and watch his floor remarks on the amendmentHERE.

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