[Salon] Behind the scenes, GOP senators challenge legality of Trump’s aid cuts

A handful of Republican senators have joined their Democratic colleagues in expressing alarm over the Trump administration’s foreign aid freeze and gutting of USAID, writing to their former colleague Marco Rubio that they believe the State Department is not operating in accordance with the law by neglecting to notify and consult with Congress during the process, according to correspondence obtained by The Washington Post.

The senators have also asked Rubio to defend the freeze in a hearing on Capitol Hill in the coming weeks.

The letters were dated earlier this month and sent by members of the Senate Appropriations Committee. They mark some of the first signs of meaningful — if private — GOP pushback to the Trump administration’s striking encroachment on Congress’ power of the purse and betray some frustration with Rubio’s lack of responsiveness to his former colleagues.

Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service have frozen and canceled hundreds of billions of dollars in federal spending that’s been appropriated by Congress, sparking a flurry of lawsuits and yet little public outrage from GOP members on the Hill. On Wednesday night, the Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s request to pause a lower court’s deadline for the government to resume nearly $2 billion in foreign aid payments.

GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham (South Carolina), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine), the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, wrote to Rubio earlier this month with their Democratic colleagues that although they supported the secretary of state’s right to review federal programs and eliminate waste and abuse, they were “concerned” that Rubio and the State Department had not notified and consulted with Congress as it gutted USAID and canceled foreign aid programs, which they noted is required by law.

Graham, a close Trump ally, has publicly supported the gutting of USAID, while also saying he supports foreign aid generally as a tool of U.S. power and influence abroad.

The senators also wrote in the letter that they had not received responses on requests for information about what foreign aid programs were being paused and which waivers were being given to allow some programs to continue. The State Department had also withheld funding for programs that fall under a separate congressional funding authority “in contravention of law,” they noted. (That includes funding for the National Endowment for Democracy, a nonprofit that is funded directly by Congress to promote democracy abroad and which has had to furlough most of its staff as it’s been blocked from accessing its funds.)

The lawmakers urged Rubio to exempt programs that are vital to U.S. national security and also warned that “China, Russia, and Iran are seeking to exploit both the foreign assistance review and USAID reorganization in a way that allows them to advance their own geopolitical priorities.”

They slammed the waiver process as lacking “structure and clarity.”

“We are alarmed by reports that food is at risk of rotting in ports, lifesaving medicines are stuck in warehouses, and counterterrorism programs are being suspended, including in Somalia,” they wrote. “We suspect personnel actions at USAID and your Department … combined with unclear guidance to Department and USAID contracting officers, have created confusion that prevents funds from being quickly disbursed for vital programs that have received waivers.”

They asked Rubio to brief the committee within days and also to provide a comprehensive list of program terminations and waivers.

“We know that as a former appropriator, you understand well the concerns we raise today,” they said. “And as your former colleagues, we look forward to hearing from you and working with you in your new role.” Sens. Patty Murray (Washington), Brian Schatz (Hawaii) and Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire) were the Democrats on the letter.

In a statement to The Washington Post, Graham said he trusts Rubio’s judgment in granting waivers and supports eliminating wasteful programs and many of DOGE’s efforts. But Graham said he has heard from people that they have had waivers granted and yet still not received the funding they were owed by the State Department.

“I, along with many others, have a lot of faith in Secretary Rubio. When a waiver is granted, I want to know what happens to the funding,” Graham said. “There seems to be a disconnect between the waiver being granted and the funding being approved. I would like to know what is happening.”

A State Department spokesman did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

That letter went unanswered, and Graham and Schatz, the two highest-ranking lawmakers on the subcommittee overseeing foreign aid, then wrote to Rubio on Feb. 21 to demand he not take any “irreversible and costly actions” related to USAID staff that could damage programs vital to U.S. national security until the full 90-day review period had elapsed. They also asked for a briefing for committee staff from Peter Marocco, the official at the State Department in charge of foreign assistance.

They then invited Rubio to testify in front of their subcommittee next month “regarding your stated goals and execution of the foreign assistance pause and USAID reorganization.”

The State Department and USAID say it has completed its review of programming. Nearly 5,800 awards were targeted for elimination as part of “the America First agenda,” a Trump official told The Post earlier this week.

USAID retained some awards, including food assistance; lifesaving medical treatments for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria; and support for nations such as Lebanon, Haiti, Venezuela and Cuba, the official said.

Republican hawks who have traditionally argued that foreign aid advances U.S. power abroad have walked a delicate line in recent weeks as the Trump administration has made clear it wants to dramatically reorder America’s posture on the world stage. Many have said they believe USAID was in need of dramatic reform. Just two days before sending the first letter to Rubio, Graham said at a news conference that although he considered himself “a big advocate for soft power,” the spending USAID was conducting “makes me sick to my stomach.”

“I am for helping starving people, I am for clean water, I am for making sure we have the ability to combat China in Africa,” Graham said. But he said USAID’s funding was not doing that. “USAID is a victim of their own excesses,'' Graham said.