President Donald Trump put a pause on all foreign aid distributed by USAID. The long-term future of the program and those who benefit from it is in limbo.
HOUSTON — Tons of food aid intended to ship to international destinations are sitting in Houston warehouses and left in limbo as President Donald Trump’s administration continues its pause of the U.S. Agency for International Development — or USAID.
Trump has pushed to halt some foreign aid. He also made unspecified claims of fraud and waste as part of his reasoning to shut down the agency. Trump made comments at the White House on Friday.
“When you look at USAID, that’s a, that’s a fraud, the whole thing is a fraud,” Trump said. “Very little, very little being put to good use.”
A federal judge on Friday temporarily paused the Trump administration’s efforts to put thousands of USAID workers on leave. It’s not clear when or if normal operations will continue.
Before the ruling, Democrats on Capitol Hill warned about the serious impacts the decision to cut USAID employees could have on food already meant to ship out.
“Tons of food is sitting in Houston and it’s got nowhere to go because there’s no one there to coordinate it to get to people around the world,” Rep. Angie Craig told KHOU 11.
Craig is a Democrat from Minnesota and the Ranking Member on the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture.
Congressional aides told KHOU 11 officials on Capitol Hill have learned 235,000 tons of wheat is ready for shipment in Houston. But because there is no USAID staff to book transportation, coordinate receiving the shipment at the destination or ensure security for the food, the wheat is stranded in warehouses.
Officials with the Committee on Agriculture also said more than 29,000 metric tons of food commodities, valued at $39 million remain sitting at USAID warehouses in Houston and are unable to be loaded onto U.S.-flagged ships for transportation.
The issue is also impacting ports in Boston, Miami, Norfolk, Savannah, New York, Chicago and Lake Charles, officials told KHOU 11.
Some of the food produced in Texas connected to foreign food aid includes sorghum, corn, yellow split peas and vegetable oil.
“Over $2 billion is grown every single year in America and sold into this program, so it’s not just cutting USAID, it’s also cutting business for family farmers in this country,” Craig said “There are serious unintended consequences, not just for USAID and the people that it helps, but also to America’s farm economy and the economy right here in Texas.”
A spokesperson for the Port Houston sent KHOU 11 the following statement:
“Port Houston is not aware of any new significant delays to US Food Aid Cargo. Product remains on the move and recent delays are attributed to normal seasonal weather impacts to vessel schedules.”
A congressional aide with the House Agriculture Committee said their information is focused solely on food currently stored in warehouses, not cargo containers.
发表回复