According to findings obtained by The Federalist, the United States Agency for International Development ( USAID ) spent millions of dollars supporting pet projects like pickle making and dog collar manufacturing in Ukraine.
Sen. Joni Ernst’s team uncovered the secret ice funds when, after months of enduring the company’s excuses to defend its resistance to supervision, they were suddenly permitted entry to “very minimal data”. In October 2024, as Ernst has since detailed, the president’s team visited USAID office in people for an “in-camera evaluation” of Ukraine support data also though, her team discovered, the documents were no classified.
Ernst’s team discovered a number of U.S. taxpayer-funded grants funneled to Ukrainian businesses under the guise of the Competitive Economy Program ( CEP ) and Investment for Business Resilience funds, despite the fact that they were severely restricted during their investigation.
Among the grants Ernst’s staff discovered were hundreds of thousands of dollars devoted to literal pet projects including approximately$ 300, 000 to a “pet tracking app”, approximately$ 300, 000 to a “dog collar manufacturer”, and approximately another$ 109, 000 to a “pet food packaging producer”, according to a findings breakdown Ernst’s office sent to The Federalist.
Fashionistas even benefitted from the taxpayer-funded investments with a children’s clothing company, a fashion photographer, a “purveyor of contemporary knitwear”, a “luxury bridal brand”, a “marketplace for designer artisanal parts”, and yet a” trade quest for a fashion design house”, raking in around$ 733, 000 combined.
Designers including a” custom carpet manufacturer”, which received approximately$ 2, 000, 000, and two different furniture lines, which received$ 114, 000 and$ 91, 000 respectively, also joined in the funding frenzy.
Even foodies ate all the American currency they could. A” trade mission for a condiment manufacturer” cost taxpayers approximately$ 94, 000, a “pickle maker” received around$ 148, 0000, an organic coffee and tea producer was handed approximately$ 255, 000, a vineyard pulled$ 89, 000, and an “artisanal fruit tea company” collected$ 104, 000.
A meatpacking plant cost about$ 319, 000, and a” specialty biscuit and confectionery company” received about$ 678, 000, which is nearly the same amount of taxpayer funding as the aforementioned food grants combined.
USAID “failed to provide any of these documents” to Ernst’s staff beyond the “in-camera review”. USAID frequently applies for exemptions for national security to avoid making controversial allegations public through its “foreign assistance” tracker.
In a letter from Feb. 4 to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose department took over USAID in early February, Ernst claimed that USAID grants like CEP funds “enhance Ukraine’s wartime posture by increasing Ukrainian businesses ‘ sales in new markets.”
Instead, the American people have funded lavish trade trips and vacations for Ukrainian business owners to film festivals and fashion weeks in Europe’s and beyond, she wrote.
This report of USAID’s Ukraine disbursements comes as the agency is under fire for devoting Americans ‘ hard-earned money to overseas DEI initiatives, meals for terrorists, global censorship, pottery classes, model trips, and even an Iraqi Sesame Street.
First and foremost, Ernst & Young pressed USAID to explain how it used its tax dollars to pay the facilities and administrative expenses outlined in the November 2022 Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreements ( NICRAs ). In April 2023, Ernst and GOP Rep. Michael McCaul stepped up their congressional authority to press USAID  over the billions of dollars that the organization had been funneling through NICRAs starting in 2021.
In November 2023, Ernst requested that USAID Administrator Samantha Power provide important details about how her agency spent money, particularly on Ukraine, but later claimed Power “refused to provide lucid or substantive responses.” A congressional act was introduced by the Republican in March 2024 to put an end to USAID’s abuse of taxpayer funds. When Ernst requested a look into USAID’s spending by the Inspector General, the saga continued well into 2024.
According to Ernst,” USAID went rogue,” Ernst claimed in a statement to The Federalist.
” As we uncover more waste, fraud, and abuse, it is clear why the agency was so desperate to stonewall my efforts to expose how it was spending tax dollars”, she said. ” Foreign aid must advance America’s interests, not line the pockets of shady overseas businesses and contractors”.
The Federalist staff writer and host of The Federalist Radio Hour, Jordan Boyd. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordanian received her bachelor’s degree from Baylor University, where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on X @jordanboydtx.
