A U.S. Congressman, Scott Perry, has alleged that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) financed Boko Haram and other terrorist groups during the administrations of former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Perry, a Republican representing Pennsylvania, made the accusation during the inaugural hearing of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency held on Thursday.
The session, titled “The War on Waste: Stamping Out the Scourge of Improper Payments and Fraud,” examined alleged mismanagement and misuse of taxpayer funds.
“Who gets some of that money? Does that name ring a bell to anybody in the room? Because your money, your money, $697 million annually, plus the shipments of cash funds in Madrasas, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, ISIS Khorasan, terrorist training camps. That’s what it’s funding,” Perry said.
According to the subcommittee’s website, it intends to “actively work with President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency to root out waste, shore up vulnerable payment systems, and fully investigate schemes to defraud taxpayers.”
Perry further cited USAID’s reported allocation of $136 million for constructing 120 schools in Pakistan, claiming there was “zero evidence” that the schools were ever built.
Perry added, “If you think that the programme under Operation Enduring Sentinel entitled Women’s Scholarship Endowment, which receives $60 million annually, or the Young Women Lead, which gets about $5 million annually, is going to women who, by the way, if you read the Inspector General’s report, is telling you that the Taliban does not allow women to speak in public, yet somehow you’re believing, and American people are supposed to believe, that this money is going for the betterment of the women in Afghanistan. It is not.
“You are funding terrorism, and it’s coming through USAID. And it’s not just Afghanistan, because Pakistan’s right next door.
“USAID spent $840 million in the last year, the last 20 years, on Pakistan’s education-related programme. It includes $136 million to build 120 schools, of which there is zero evidence that any of them were built. Why would there be any evidence? The Inspector General can’t get in to see them.
“But you know what? We doubled down and spent $20 million from USAID to create educational television programs for children unable to attend the physical school. Yeah, they can’t attend it, because it doesn’t exist. You paid for it.
“Somebody else got the money. You are paying for terrorism. This has got to end.”
U.S. President Donald Trump has previously called for USAID’s closure, accusing the agency of corruption in a post on his Truth Social platform.
The move aligns with Trump’s—and his billionaire ally Elon Musk’s—initiative to reduce government bureaucracy.
Musk, whom Trump appointed to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, has also criticised USAID, calling it “a viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America,” and vowing to dismantle it.
Among other claims, Musk alleged that USAID engaged in “rogue CIA work” and funded bioweapon research, including COVID-19.
Trump said DOGE would “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excessive regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies — essential to the ‘Save America’ movement. This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste, which is a lot of people!”
