US Congressman Scott Perry has accused the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) of funneling funds to terrorist organizations, including Boko Haram, ISIS, and Al-Qaeda.
Perry, a Republican representing Pennsylvania, made these allegations on Thursday during the inaugural hearing of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency. The session, titled “The War on Waste: Stamping Out the Scourge of Improper Payments and Fraud,” focused on the alleged misuse of taxpayer funds.
“Your money—$697 million annually—plus shipments of cash funds in madrasas, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, ISIS Khorasan, terrorist training camps. That’s what it’s funding,” Perry claimed. He also alleged that USAID allocated $136 million to build 120 schools in Pakistan, yet provided “zero evidence” of their existence. Similarly, he questioned the effectiveness of USAID-funded women’s empowerment programs in Afghanistan, citing Taliban restrictions on women’s rights.
Perry insisted that USAID’s spending not only lacked transparency but also indirectly supported terrorism. “You are funding terrorism, and it’s coming through USAID,” he stated.
Former US President Donald Trump has previously called for shutting down USAID, accusing it of corruption. His administration’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, aims to overhaul federal agencies. Musk has also criticized USAID, branding it “a viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists” and accusing it of engaging in rogue intelligence operations.
Trump vowed that DOGE would “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excessive regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies.”
The allegations have sparked fresh debate over USAID’s role and accountability in global aid distribution.
