Congressman Mike Lawler (R-NY) exposed a significant piece of USAID corruption. He found evidence of a program funded by USAID to the tune of $250 million that paid for the creation of anti-Semitic rap music hostile to the state of Israel. According to the congressman, this proves the need for DOGE and other anti-waste measures.
As background, USAID was one of Trump’s first targets when he came into office. He signed a sweeping executive order that cut funding and dramatically reduced the number of employees at the agency. Elon Musk and DOGE have uncovered absurd instances of waste in USAID, which they say wrongly costs taxpayers billions.
Lawler posted to his X account on February 13, 2025. He said, “Ensuring that every last dollar of taxpayer money is being spent appropriately is a critical mission of Congress. As we examine USAID’s expenditures, transparency is key. The fact that USAID spent millions on a non-profit that pushed anti-Israel and antisemitic rap songs is abhorrent.”
He posted a video on the same message, adding context to his claim. In the video, he says, “Unfortunately, as we peel back the onion here, we’re finding more and more that billions of dollars of taxpayer money are being misappropriated. So, Secretary Rubio has done by putting a 90-day freeze in place, per President Trump’s executive orders, to have a comprehensive review.”
Rep. Lawler also expressed how pleased he was with DOGE. He said, “In three to four weeks, DOGE has gotten more information than Congress ever could…Now, one of the things we’ve uncovered is the fact that a congressionally appropriated fund, the Nita A. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace …a $250 million fund controlled by USA ID.”
He explained that this fund was at the nexus of a web of corruption. The Republican rep. said, “It was set up for the purpose of cultural dialog. USAID, under this program, gave $3 million to Tomorrow’s Youth, and the head of that has produced numerous anti-semitic, anti-Israeli songs as part of this cultural dialog.”
He used this fact to drive home his central argument. Lawler said, “Now, given what has happened in the Middle East and given what happened on October 7, do any of you actually believe that is a good use of American taxpayer dollars to promote anti-Semitic rap songs in the Middle East?”
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The conservative firebrand says this is precisely what Congress is supposed to counter. He said, “Well, that’s what we’re talking about, and that’s what we’re dealing with. And for those saying, Where is Congress? We’re here. We’re having this hearing; we’re providing this oversight. That is our role, but it is the role of the executive to manage the agencies and departments, and that is exactly what they are doing.”
He ended his argument by explaining how much better Trump has been as an executive than his predecessor. he said, “Frankly, they have provided more information to Congress in the last few weeks than Congress ever got under the Biden administration. And the Biden administration is the one that approved that $3 million to go to an anti-semitic rap artist to promote Jewish hatred.”
Featured image from embedded video