- The White House fired USAID Inspector General Paul Martin one day after he released a report criticizing President Trump’s foreign aid freeze. The report warned that staffing cuts and new directives made it harder for the agency to track billions in humanitarian spending.
- The inspector general highlighted past oversight failures, including USAID funding reaching organizations accused of not disclosing ties to Hezbollah and Hamas, leading to DOJ settlements.
- The Trump administration’s foreign aid freeze is facing legal challenges, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio has suggested USAID could be abolished during its reorganization.
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The White House fired the inspector general for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Inspectors general typically investigate fraud, waste and abuse within government agencies.
USAID recently came under scrutiny following criticism from DOGE, who accused the agency of spending millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars on causes aligned with left-wing ideologies worldwide.
What was in the inspector general’s report?
Paul Martin’s removal as USAID’s inspector general came just one day after his office released a report criticizing President Donald Trump’s freeze on foreign aid. In the report, published Tuesday, Feb. 12, Martin suggested that the spending freeze and staffing cuts had created confusion about which programs could continue and which employees remained authorized to work.
Martin stated the uncertainty made it more difficult for USAID to track over $8 billion spent on humanitarian missions overseas.
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The report stated the new directives “significantly impacted USAID’s capacity to disburse and safeguard its humanitarian assistance programming.”
“Specifically, USAID’s existing oversight controls—albeit with previously identified shortcomings—are now largely nonoperational given these recent directives and personnel actions,” Martin wrote.
The report also linked a July 2024 USAID assessment, which identified previous oversight failures. That document detailed concerns over the lack of safeguards to prevent USAID funding from reaching terrorist groups in Gaza and the Middle East.
USAID funded organizations accused of ties to terror groups
The inspector general highlighted two organizations that had received USAID funds but failed to disclose past connections to designated terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah and Hamas.
The Department of Justice sued both groups, leading to financial settlements.
“Examples of efforts to conceal such prior relationships in other non-permissive environments are evident in closed investigations involving two USAID-funded implementers, the American University of Beirut (AUB) and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA),” Martin wrote. “Both organizations reached False Claims Act settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for $700,000 and $2,025,000, respectively.”
AUB settled allegations that it falsely certified that it had not provided past material support to U.S.-designated terrorist entities, some of which were affiliated with Hezbollah.
NPA settled allegations that it concealed prior and continued support to Iran, Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Trump administration’s foreign aid freeze
The Trump administration ordered a freeze on all federal funding for foreign aid, arguing that the spending required review and must align with American interests. That order is now being contested in court.
The funding freeze coincides with major leadership changes at USAID, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio assuming control of the agency.
While Martin’s report acknowledged that immediate waivers allowed essential USAID programs to continue during the freeze, he warned that food assistance shipments had been delayed due to staffing confusion, putting supplies at risk of spoilage.
Ongoing political and legal battles
Paul Martin is one of nearly 20 inspectors general dismissed by the Trump administration. Meanwhile, Rubio suggested in a letter to lawmakers that USAID could be “abolished after its reorganization over the coming days.”
However, the administration faces legal challenges, as unions fight to protect the jobs of USAID employees.
