The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was established by the George W. Bush (right) administration in 2003 to respond to the AIDS crisis in Africa, but critics say it has been hijacked by the Left to promote abortion and LGBTQ ideology abroad.
Its funds have gone from $1.5 billion to over $6 billion in tax dollars.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has apportioned less than half of that $6 billion and the Left is having another fit saying that HIV programs are eroding.
Max Primorac, Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, made these remarks on Washington Watch earlier this week.
"This is a program that had a very good start, good intentions. It was a real crisis. Millions were on the verge of dying and President Bush and a lot of faith leaders came together to respond to it, and they did an amazing job. But we're in year 23, 24 of what is an emergency program, that's the 'E' in PEPFAR,” Primorac said.
There’s been damage in the delay as Leftist goals and priorities have crept in.
“After a while you had a self-serving industry get involved in turning it into a permanent entitlement program, especially for themselves. As we've seen in culture and universities and elsewhere, the foreign aid industry also has been taken hostage by the extreme Left,” Primorac added.
He said 98% of political donations by those involved in foreign aid work go to left-wing candidates and causes – a little extra pot of gold for the Democrats.
“It becomes a syndicate for a lot of Democratic Party operatives. When you look at where the money is spent, I think this is something that's animating the White House. We're seeing that at least half of the money never leaves D.C.,” says Primorac. “So, think about $3.5 billion, if not more, of that money staying here inside Washington, D.C. to effectively serve as a money pot for the left.”
He went on to say that the Trump administration is trying to take out the corrupt middle and wants to empower Africans to provide their own social services, as they are currently dependent on the funding. He said that contractors, U.N. (United Nations) agencies, and international NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) are getting wealthy off PEPFAR.
Primorac believes the Trump administration is working to correct this by looking into where the money is going and working through localization, which he says has been championed by both Republicans and Democrats.
“They're working directly with African partners, especially the churches that are the mainstay of providing medical care to Africans throughout the continent, seeing how we can work more directly with them because they've got the talent and are on the ground. (The administration) is eliminating that very expensive and bureaucratic middle, the international NGOs, the U.N. agencies, for-profit contractors.”
Not only about gender
PEPFAR has also been pro-abortion. The Mexico City policy, which required foreign organizations receiving U.S. funds for global health to not promote or perform abortions as a method of family planning, was taken away during the Biden administration. However, President Donald Trump reinstated it once he reentered office.
Luckily, Primorac believes that the American people will see an end to all the waste in the government.
“This president has been so committed to respecting the American taxpayer. The (Department of Government Efficiency) DOGE came in and did amazing work. They're still doing amazing work, and you've seen Secretary (Marco) Rubio, he's undaunted by the attacks. You've seen OMB doing it, and with talent coming into the State Department, they are committed to making the cuts.”
