Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a member of the Senate International Relations Committee, introduced Monday he’ll place a blanket maintain on all of President Trump’s nominees to the State Division till the president backs off his effort to close down USAID, the nation’s chief international help company.
“Until and unless this brazenly authoritarian action is reversed and USAID is functional again, I will be placing a blanket hold on all of the Trump administration’s State Department nominees. This is self-inflicted chaos of epic proportions that will have dangerous consequences all around the world,” Schatz mentioned in an announcement.
That maintain would influence Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Trump’s decide to function U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Her nomination was reported out of the International Relations Committee final month.
Trump adviser Elon Musk has made a powerful push to shut USAID, which he known as on X a “viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed reporters Monday that he’s taken over as USAID’s appearing director, criticizing it as a “completely unresponsive agency.”
“It’s supposed to respond to policy directives of the State Department, and it refuses to do so,” he mentioned.
The trouble to shutter the international assist company is getting sturdy pushback from Democrats, together with Schatz, who held a rally and press convention outdoors its headquarters within the Ronald Reagan Constructing on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.
“Dismantling USAID is illegal and makes us less safe. USAID was created by federal law and is funded by Congress. Donald Trump and Elon Musk can’t just wish it away with a stroke of a pen – they need to pass a law,” Schatz mentioned.
