Under the Radar: 97% of USAID Workers Went to Democrats

A story from earlier this month got little to no attention from the media. USAID employees donated substantially more to the Democrat party than any other in the last election cycle. Why does this matter? Well, considering that the waste and abuse that was found within the spending of USAID, went towards leftist ideologies and programs around the world. Even landing in the laps of countries who may be against these same programs. It makes it fairly obvious to a thinking individual that there is a good chance that Democrats were well aware of what USAID was doing with your money. Of course, some Republicans also had to have known. However, knowing the way that Democrats operate, I would wager that the employees at USAID kept Republicans largely in the dark. Something Marco Rubio has stated in an interview. 

Under the Trump administration, USAID is being integrated into the State Department, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio serving as the agency’s acting administrator. Rubio has previously expressed frustration with USAID’s lack of transparency and accountability. As a senator, he recounted how the agency often failed to provide clear answers to basic questions about its programs and funding.

“We would ask them questions— ‘Who does this program fund? Who gets the money?’—and we wouldn’t get responses,” Rubio said. “These are taxpayer dollars. We owe the American people assurances that every dollar we are spending abroad is being spent on something that furthers our national interest.”

Employees at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have overwhelmingly directed their political contributions to Democratic candidates and causes during the 2024 election cycle, according to data from OpenSecrets.

USAID staff contributed a total of 406,790 in political donations, with the vast majority, 377,000, or 97% going to Democrats. Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign received the largest share, pulling in 241,079, which accounts for more than half of the total contributions. In stark contrast, only $999, a mere 0.25% of the total, went to former President Donald Trump’s campaign. Republicans overall received just $12,704 from USAID employees.

The data, compiled by OpenSecrets using Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, tracks political donations exceeding $200 made by USAID employees to political action committees (PACs) and candidates. The figures highlight a significant partisan tilt within the agency. Trump recently criticized USAID, calling its leadership “radical left lunatics” who “went crazy during the Biden administration” and misallocated funds to “people that shouldn’t be getting” them. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk echoed these sentiments, declaring the agency “beyond repair.”

While many of USAID’s functions will continue, Rubio emphasized that its operations will now align more closely with U.S. foreign policy objectives. The restructuring aims to ensure that the agency’s activities serve American interests while maintaining accountability to taxpayers.