Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) stressed that the U.S. Agency for International Development needs to provide “a hand up, not a handout” if the Department of Government Efficiency is going to prevent future waste.

The Trump administration and DOGE have sought to eliminate wasteful spending across the government, with USAID being one of the first targets of this effort. Ernst, founder of the Senate DOGE Caucus, has attempted to spotlight the agency’s waste in the past, some of which she assessed stems from USAID programs that will not end even after they accomplish their purpose, which calls for “sunset provisions” to these programs.