DeLauro Applauds Court Pausing Destruction of Agency Central to U.S. National Security

WASHINGTON — House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro released the following statement after the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia paused the Trump Administration’s plans to put more than 2,000 critical U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) workers on paid leave:

“Once again, our courts are saying loud and clear that President Trump is not a king. He does not have the power to dismantle agencies without the approval of Congress. He does not have the power to steal funds promised to the American people. While I applaud this court order to temporarily block billionaire Elon Musk and his puppet President Trump from unlawfully putting thousands of USAID workers on leave, this saga is simply another skirmish on the Republican road to bring harm to hardworking Americans. 

“Right now, Trump and his billionaire advisors are readying for their next target. Public education, Medicaid, cancer research, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are next on the chopping block. As Elon Musk rifles through the highly sensitive records of all Americans and as energy bills rise because they are unlawfully freezing resources hardworking families depend on, Republicans are meeting behind closed doors, working out their plan to slash Medicaid and education. They are doing all this so they can give their billionaire donors tax breaks and continue to steal taxpayer dollars.

“Republicans want to destroy agencies central to our national security, slash critical funding that supports American families, businesses, and communities, and cut off our allies. What we cannot allow is a government of billionaires, by billionaires, and for billionaires, to seize total control of our country.”

DeLauro’s full remarks at a recent press conference on the unlawful dismantling of USAID can be found here.

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