Democrat lawmakers: Changes in government agencies cannot be made in secret

The Democratic Leadership of Congress warned President Donald Trump on Tuesday that they would use future budget talks as a means to combat administration changes to United States government agencies.

The Democrats' warnings follow the government's Department of Efficiency (DOGE) decision, led by entrepreneur Elon Musk, to pass the American International Development Agency (USAID) under the control of the State Department earlier this week. President Trump's administration has said it is reviewing U.S. aid.AID for other countries in the world to be “made sure that they are in line with the First American agenda”.

What DOGE is doing is not democracy”, The minority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, told reporters Tuesday. “Democracy is open. That's not classified. ”

The Democrats may object to some of the latest changes in the US government, failing to vote for the new government spending bill. The current government budget expires on 14 March.

On Monday, Democrats of the House of Representatives and Senate protested outside U's closed offices AID, saying the administration of President Trump had exceeded its authority.

If you want to change an agency, you can do this through the adoption of a” law, Democrat Senator Brian Schatz said. “You cannot shut down by executive order or take over the servers of an agency that you do not like. The American system of government doesn't work that way. ”

The U.S. Agency for International Development manages relief programs for foreign countries worth dozens of billion dollars.

“The constitution requires that the funds approved by Congress be spent by the president and his administration”, The House of Representatives Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Tuesday. The constitution requires that the president implement laws faithfully. Previous agreements on government expenditures approved by Congress are part of the country's laws, and their violation constitutes violations of the Constitution. That's why a wave of fair court lawsuits has begun. ”

Republicans in Congress have voiced support for efforts to eliminate corruption and violations of the American aid system for other countries.

I don't think they're shutting down an agency. They have the right to review the funds and the way those decisions are made on aid to the outside world, and which priorities of the country are being financed”, the majority leader in the Senate, John Thune, told reporters Tuesday. I think this is probably true for every administration. There are many authorized and funded programs from this agency, some of which I think function in the way it's predicted and some not.”

The White House criticised USAID projects supporting diversity and equality initiatives and other efforts it considers to be abuse of taxpayers' funds.

If there is a massive fraud, if the funds are not used for the purposes envisioned by the laws approved by Congress and signed by the president, then we should be informed of this”, Roger Wuecker, chairman of the Senate Commission for Armed Forces, said for American Channels “CNN” and “CBS” on Monday.

For a long time I've thought that U AID is our way of combating the “One Belt, One Street”, Through which China is trying to extend its influence worldwide, including Africa, South America and the Western Hemisphere”, Senator Wuecker stressed. “We need a assistance programme that can respond to Chinese efforts, but this should be done in line with existing United States laws. ”

The leader of the democratic minority in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said Tuesday that he supports efforts to eliminate fraud and abuse, but criticised the speed and secrecy of this process. / VOA/