Senators charge State Department with funneling aid to left-wing groups

State Department officials are using foreign aid to support “left-leaning political groups” around the world, to the annoyance of foreign officials, according to a group of Republican senators.

American diplomats have used USAID grants to shape “the media environment and civil society” of foreign countries, including those such as Macedonia that occupy a delicate space on the world stage. The recipients of the grants, such as Open Societies Foundation, which is also supported by liberal billionaire George Soros, use the money “to push a progressive agenda and invigorate the political left,” the senators wrote.