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Washington Examiner: How USAID is settling displaced employees into Soros' shadowy far-left organizations

2025-02-06 16:26:45Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
USAID

As questions about the future of USAID and its alleged liberal bias continue to be debated, a review by the Washington Examiner has found that the agency sends many of its prominent former employees to left-wing research and activist organizations.

From interns to senior administrators, former USAID employees currently serve in various positions at nonprofits with strong ties to the Democratic Party and the broader liberal movement. The Washington Examiner identified more than 100 former USAID employees working for shadowy entities linked to the Arabella Advisors secretive funding network, foundations controlled by the Soros family, and abortion rights organizations, among many other left-wing groups.

Critics of USAID claim that the agency has strayed from its original mission of helping people on the brink of death and has instead begun funding ideologically motivated grants designed to modify developing nations. Meanwhile, its supporters argue that this funding is necessary for the United States to project its soft power and counter Chinese influence.

Regardless of which side is essentially right, many former USAID employees move to left-wing nonprofits soon after leaving the agency, signaling that those who run U.S. aid mechanisms have liberal persuasions.

These left-wing beliefs, critics say, often affect what should be apolitical work. The White House, for example, issued a press release on Monday accusing the agency of funneling taxpayer money into “meaningless — and in many cases, malicious — projects,” citing USAID grants that funded a “DEI musical” in Ireland, a “transgender opera” in Colombia, gender reassignment and “LGBT activism” in Guatemala, and the integration of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) into workplaces in Serbia.

The Open Society Foundations, the Soros family’s main philanthropic vehicle, funds liberal LGBT rights and climate initiatives around the world in a similar way to USAID, and members of the Soros family are major donors to the Democratic Party. Moreover, several former USAID officials now hold senior positions at the Soros-funded organization.

A former senior USAID official during the Obama administration who worked to support political transition projects in the developing world now serves as director of the office of the vice president and chief opposition officer at the Open Society Foundations. Other former USAID officials, most of whom have held senior positions, now hold mid- and senior-level positions at the Open Society Foundations.

At least two current employees of the Open Society Foundations have held jobs at USAID during Republican administrations, showing that people with liberal beliefs continue to be part of the agency even when Republicans are in power.

It’s no surprise that many former USAID employees end up working for left-wing organizations with a global focus after leaving the agency. The Gates Foundation, a liberal nonprofit with a global focus, for example, was the most common destination for former USAID employees identified by the Washington Examiner analysis, with at least 42 former agency employees now working at the Gates Foundation, many of them holding senior positions.

The Gates Foundation pours hundreds of millions of dollars a year into abortion and “reproductive health” initiatives, climate change efforts, and grants to liberal advocacy organizations like the New Venture Fund and Demos. In addition, the foundation has transferred tens of millions of dollars to Chinese government institutions in recent years. Gates was a major donor to former Vice President Amal Harris’ presidential campaign and has defended USAID from Republican critics.

Like the USAID officials who moved to the Open Society Foundations, many of the former USAID employees now at the Gates Foundation served during the first Trump administration, some even leading centers and divisions of the agency.

“I think everyone in the world knows exactly what USAID is, regardless of where they are on the political spectrum,” Mike Howell, executive director of the Oversight Project at the Heritage Foundation, told the Washington Examiner, echoing the White House’s criticism. “The far left has used it as a state-sponsored platform to fund its ecosystem and accomplish things that couldn’t otherwise happen through normal channels.”

The Rockefeller Foundation, another left-wing philanthropic foundation focused on global issues, is led by Rajiv Shah, who served as USAID administrator under the Obama administration. The organization's chief of staff and vice president of innovation are also former USAID employees.

A significant number of former USAID employees end up working for organizations with direct ties to the Democratic Party. The Washington Examiner identified three former USAID employees who now work for the Democratic National Committee, two who work for organizations linked to the pro-Democratic secret funding network of Arabella Advisors, one at New America, two at the Center for American Progress, and three at Planned Parenthood.

USAID's list of its former employees working in left-wing NGOs is likely an underestimate, as the analysis relied on public social media profiles, and not everyone makes their employment history public.

Other left-wing organizations where former USAID employees work include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Anti-Defamation League, the Guttmacher Institute, the Human Rights Campaign, J Street, the Migration Policy Institute, the Omidyar Network, the Roosevelt Institute, the Aspen Institute, the Gravel Institute, the Truman National Security Project, the World Resource Institute, and the Ford Foundation.

"It's ironic that we see Jamie Raskin and others talking about constitutional issues when, in reality, USAID has operated outside of congressional oversight for decades," said Mike Howell, executive director of the Oversight Project at the Heritage Foundation. "This agency has funded some of the most extreme aspects of left-wing and international interventionism, as well as the personal enrichment of liberals."

On Monday, the Daily Wire reported that 97% of political donations reported by USAID employees during the 2024 election cycle went to Democrats.

The White House and USAID did not respond to Washington Examiner requests for comment. / Washington Examiner / Syri


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