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EXCLUSIVE: Congress Froze $1.5 Million For Foreign LGBTQ Initiatives — But Biden-Harris Admin Is Spending It Anyways

The Biden-Harris administration plans to bypass Congress and funnel well over $1 million in taxpayer money to LGBTQ initiatives in Latin America, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation has learned.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) spends billions of dollars each year providing aid to various countries around the world in order to advance social causes abroad. In August, USAID directed Congress to disburse $1.5 million in Latin America and the Caribbean for a variety of LGBTQ causes, including increasing awareness of LGBTQ individuals and fostering collaboration between various organizations that protect minority groups. That’s the plan, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. The DCNF spoke on condition of anonymity because the topic is sensitive. (Related: Legal group launches investigation into Biden administration’s potential role in Brazil’s X censorship)

A congressional committee ordered a freeze on the $1.5 million funding package, sources told DCNF. But USAID has chosen to ignore the reservations and move forward with the initiative. This is an incredibly rare and almost unheard of move as holds are usually respected.

USAID Director Samantha Power (C) meets with Arab officials in Arish, Egypt on December 5, 2023. (Photo by Ali Mustafa/Getty Images)

USAID will use the $1.5 million to go beyond supporting LGBTQ individuals. This includes funding for lawsuits in cases where various countries in Latin America and the Caribbean allegedly discriminate against LGBTQ individuals, DCNF found. Some of these countries have the highest percentages of Catholics or Christians in the world. According to Go to World Population Review.

DCNF understands that this funding will also facilitate collaboration between LBGTQ organizations and other minority groups, such as organizations representing African descent, Indigenous groups, and immigrant-focused organizations. It also includes funding for the creation and distribution of materials for journalists to promote anti-violence against LGBTQ people in the region.

$1.5 million has been allocated to the Development Fund (DF) for 2023, but it is not clear how much of the money has been spent so far. This is part of a larger package of $6.5 million for LGBTQ initiatives around the world, including in the Middle East and Africa regions, sources told DCNF.

The Congressional holdout only applied to the $1.5 million portion of the package, but USAID ignored it and moved forward with its spending plan, officials said.

(Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

USAID Humanitarian Aid Box. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

USAID has $45 billion dollars budget The budget is for fiscal year 2024, and the Biden-Harris administration will use it to provide aid and supplies, as well as promote seemingly left-wing movements around the world, such as the Latinx LGBTQ initiative. I am also using this budget to. America and the Caribbean. Some of USAID’s activities have been criticized by lawmakers as a waste of money and a political stunt.

In other cases, USAID funds are not properly tracked and risk falling into the hands of America’s adversaries, such as the Taliban in Afghanistan or Hamas in Gaza.

USAID did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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