'Equity and Environmental Justice,' 'LGBTQI+ Inclusive Development Policy,' and 'Latinx Politics': Inside the Battle Between Political and Career Staffers at the State Department and USAID

When the Trump administration unveiled a 90-day freeze of foreign aid aimed at ensuring the funding is "consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda," Secretary of State Marco Rubio allowed career staffers to submit waivers for projects they felt were aligned with that agenda. Those staffers went on to submit some 200 waivers for programs that would have cost taxpayers $1.2 billion this week alone, including some that pertained to "environmental justice" and "LGBTQI+ Inclusive Development."

The Rubio-led State Department rejected all of them, sources familiar with the process told the Washington Free Beacon.

The situation reflects the severe disconnect between career and political staffers at the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which the State Department oversees. It also previews the implications of the ongoing legal fight surrounding the Trump administration's plans to freeze scores of federal grants.

A U.S. district judge issued an order pausing those plans just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday when the freeze was scheduled to take effect. The judge's ruling cites the administration's Jan. 20 executive order that outlined the 90-day foreign aid pause. The Trump White House subsequently rescinded its memo outlining internal compliance with that order and others like it, though the orders themselves remain, and the administration is moving forward with its funding review.

In the wake of that order, career staffers at USAID began submitting the funding waivers, which typically covered one week. One such waiver made a one-week funding request of $21.7 million for the Bureau for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security (REFS). The request, which was reviewed by the Free Beacon, notes that the bureau prioritizes "equity and environmental justice through the empowerment of marginalized and underrepresented populations," an effort that includes "support for cross-cutting issues like youth empowerment, gender equality, and digital inclusion."

One requested grant within the bureau would have sent $1.6 million to staffers in Ecuador—not for aid to local citizens, but rather to conduct "oversight" into ongoing grants in the country and improve "collaboration with the Government of Ecuador and donor community," an internal grant tracker reviewed by the Free Beacon shows.

Staffers also made a one-week funding request of $62.7 million for the Bureau for Inclusive Growth, Partnerships, and Innovation (IPI). The bureau "leads in carrying out key Agency priorities, including pursuing gender equality and inclusive development," according to the request.

"IPI advances the rights and inclusion of women and girls and gender-diverse individuals, and ensures marginalized and underrepresented groups are central to their own development," the request states. It goes on to identify the bureau's "Policies and Strategies," which include the "2023 Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Policy" as well as an "LGBTQI+ Inclusive Development Policy."

Housed within that bureau is the Jefferson Science Fellowship program, through which the State Department selects tenured faculty members from U.S. colleges and universities to serve as USAID advisers. One waiver request asked for more than $230,000 to pay staffers tasked with hosting those fellows, according to the internal grant tracker. The program's 2024 fellows include Sharon A. Navarro, a political scientist at the University of Texas at San Antonio whose "research and teaching interests encompass women in politics, urban and ethnic politics, minority politics, and Latinx politics," an online fellow directory states.

The temporary pause in foreign assistance has already drawn frenzied headlines from some in the mainstream media.

Politico reported last week, for example, that State Department officials were "shocked" by the edict. The Washington Post’s diplomatic reporter, John Hudson, noted that pictures of USAID programs were taken down at Foggy Bottom, with officials left "unsure how to apply for exemptions for life-saving aid programs." The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, reported on Tuesday that programs supporting "HIV treatment in Uganda, narcotics interdiction in Colombia, [and] prosthetics for refugees in Myanmar" are now "in sudden limbo."

In an internal memo to staffers, however, the State Department outlined grants that could qualify for emergency funding waivers. Such grants consist of "core life-saving medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance, as well as essential supplies and reasonable administrative costs to deliver such assistance," according to the memo.

In some cases, the State Department has approved funding that fits those qualifications, including aid related to the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, sources familiar with the process told the Free Beacon.

Rubio's waiver system allowed USAID staffers to outline foreign aid spending they felt should proceed during the freeze. Under the system, staffers submitted their waiver requests last week to Trump administration appointees within USAID, who were tasked with vetting the requests before sending them to the State Department. None of the roughly 200 grants made it past USAID, sources said.

USAID's acting administrator, Jason Gray, responded by placing "dozens of agency officials on administrative leave" who were "suspected of seeking to circumvent Trump's orders," according to the Wall Street Journal.

United States district judge Loren AliKhan's Tuesday order puts the Trump administration's funding freeze on pause until Monday, at which point the court will hear further arguments. It’s unclear how the case will move forward following the White House’s decision to rescind the memo outlining the funding freeze. That move was reportedly aimed at ending the judge’s injunction.