Exclusive: USAID Blew Hundreds Of Thousands In Taxpayer Slush Funds On Ukrainian ‘Pickle Maker,’ Pet Accessories
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spent millions of American taxpayer dollars propping up pet projects like dog collar manufacturing and pickle making in Ukraine and then spent months stonewalling members of Congress about that spending, according to findings obtained by The Federalist.
Sen. Joni Ernst’s staff uncovered the secret slush funds when, after months of enduring the agency’s excuses to justify its resistance to oversight, they were finally permitted access to “very limited data.” In October 2024, as Ernst has since detailed, the senator’s staff visited USAID headquarters in person for an “in-camera review” of Ukraine assistance data even though, her team discovered, the documents were not classified.
Even though they were heavily restricted during their investigation, Ernst’s team discovered a variety of U.S. taxpayer-funded grants funneled to Ukrainian businesses under the guise of both Competitive Economy Program (CEP) and Investment for Business Resilience funds.
Among the grants Ernst’s staff discovered were hundreds of thousands of dollars devoted to literal pet projects including approximately $300,000 to a “pet tracking app,” approximately $300,000 to a “dog collar manufacturer,” and approximately another $109,000 to a “pet food packaging producer,” according to a findings breakdown Ernst’s office sent to The Federalist.
Fashionistas also benefitted from the taxpayer-funded expenditures with a women’s clothing company, a fashion photographer, a “purveyor of contemporary knitwear,” a “luxury bridal brand,” a “marketplace for designer artisanal pieces,” and even a “trade mission for a fashion design house,” raking in approximately $733,000 combined.
Designers including a “custom carpet manufacturer,” which received approximately $2,000,000, and two different furniture lines, which received $114,000 and $91,000 respectively, also joined in the funding frenzy.
Even foodies received their fill of American cash. A “trade mission for a condiment manufacturer” cost taxpayers approximately $94,000, a “pickle maker” received around $148,0000, an organic coffee and tea producer was handed approximately $255,000, a vineyard pulled $89,000, and an “artisanal fruit tea company” collected $104,000.
USAID also awarded a “specialty biscuit and confectionery company” around $678,000 — nearly the same number of taxpayer dollars as the aforementioned food grants combined — and a meatpacking plant approximately $319,000.
USAID “failed to provide any of these documents” to Ernst’s staff beyond the “in-camera review.” USAID also often claims national security exemptions to avoid disclosing controversial charges on its public “foreign assistance” tracker.
In a Feb. 4 letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose department took over USAID at the White House’s direction in early February, Ernst wrote that USAID grants such as CEP funds claim to “enhance Ukraine’s wartime posture by increasing Ukrainian businesses’ sales in new markets.”
“Instead, the American people have funded extravagant trade missions and vacations for Ukrainian business owners to film festivals and fashion weeks across the glamorous capitols of Europe and beyond,” she wrote.
This report of USAID’s Ukraine disbursements comes as the agency is under fire for devoting Americans’ hard-earned money to overseas DEI initiatives, meals for terrorists, global censorship, pottery classes, model trips, and even an Iraqi Sesame Street.
Ernst first pressed USAID on how it used its tax dollars to pay the facilities and administrative costs outlined in Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreements (NICRAs) in November 2022. In April 2023, Ernst and GOP Rep. Michael McCaul exercised their congressional authority to press USAID over the billions of American tax dollars it funneled through NICRAs starting in 2021.
In November 2023, Ernst demanded that USAID Administrator Samantha Power hand over crucial information about her agency’s spending — specifically on Ukraine — but later claimed Power “refused to provide clear or substantive responses.” In March 2024, the Republican introduced a congressional act designed to end USAID’s abuse of taxpayer dollars. The saga continued well into 2024 when Ernst requested a probe into USAID’s spending by the Inspector General.
Ernst told The Federalist in a statement that “USAID went rogue.”
“As we uncover more waste, fraud, and abuse, it is clear why the agency was so desperate to stonewall my efforts to expose how it was spending tax dollars,” she said. “Foreign aid must advance America’s interests, not line the pockets of shady overseas businesses and contractors.”
Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on X @jordanboydtx.
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