Republicans in Congress work to save $1.8 billion in U.S.-grown food aid from the USAID graveyard

Closure of some U.S. food-aid programs
could hurt farmers. (Adobe Stock photo)

Republicans are working to rescue the Food for Peace program from the USAID-closing abyss by moving its oversight to the Department of Agriculture.

"Congressional Republicans from farm states are trying to save a $1.8 billion U.S. food-aid program that purchases U.S.-grown food and is administered by USAID, which has been largely closed by the Trump administration," reports Kristina Peterson of The Wall Street Journal.

The GOP group introduced legislation to save the 70-year-old program that works to combat international hunger by "transferring it to the USDA, which currently funds it but doesn’t run it," Peterson explains. "The bill marks a rare effort from Republicans to defend a federal program targeted by the Department of Government Efficiency." 

The White House hasn’t commented on the bill and "is watching to see how much support there is for it," Peterson adds. "Farm groups, which have worried about the impact of pausing federal funding that flows to farmers, backed the legislation."

The USDA already manages some foreign-aid programs, such as the McGovern-Dole program, which "send U.S.-grown food to schoolchildren in low-income countries," Peterson reports. The USDA hasn't confirmed if its programs will remain open.