USAID

The USAID budget for 2023 was $40 billion. This agency was founded in 1962. It was created by congress but there has been little oversight into how the money was spent and thus each year the allocation of funds was increased. Humanitarian and economic development assistance has long been an important component of U.S. global security strategy. Since 1962, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has managed more than $273 billion in such assistance. In fiscal year 2003, USAID estimates that it will obligate about $13 billion for assistance programs in almost 160 countries. The US with 4.2% of the world’s population provides 40% of the world’s humanitarian aid. The USAID budget increased from $13 billion in 2003 to $40 billion in 2023 and that represents a 5.7% annual increase but during these years the inflation rate increased only 2.5%. This would be expected in an agency that does not have appropriate over sight. It is estimated that there are 32,000 homeless veterans in the US. It cost $5 million dollars to build a 16-bed health facility to care for people with mental illness or addiction. It would require 2,000 such clinics to house the vets and this would cost $10 billion dollar to construct and $2 billion per year to operate. Under the concept of America First maybe this would be considered humanitarian aid.