EXCLUSIVE — Two Senate Republicans are looking to use funding allocated for the embattled U.S. Agency for International Development to instead pay for repairing housing for veterans as the Trump administration works to shutter the agency.
Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Mike Lee (R-UT) are introducing the Veterans First Act of 2025 in the Senate on Thursday. The bill, exclusively obtained by the Washington Examiner, seeks to repurpose $2 billion from the agency’s appropriated funds to the Department of Veterans Affairs to instead purchase, build, or repair state veterans homes.
The proposed use of USAID funds comes as the Trump administration has worked to shutter the agency, accusing it of advancing a liberal agenda and being a wasteful use of taxpayer dollars, as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency looks to slim the federal government.
The administration’s order to close the agency has been met with legal challenges, with a federal judge ruling that President Donald Trump overstepped his constitutional authority in freezing the agency’s humanitarian work abroad despite Congress appropriating the funds for foreign aid.
However, the judge did not order the Trump administration to bring back terminated contracts for foreign aid and development work. Over 5,000 awards under USAID have been terminated and more than 500 retained since the executive order, and thousands of employees have been fired or put on leave.
“Our bill takes 2 billion dollars that was going to be thrown into the USAID money pit and distributed to radical progressive causes across the globe, and instead puts it toward desperately needed housing and hospitals for the men and women who defend America. We should put our veterans before any foreign interests or organizations,” Lee said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs currently offers states up to 65% of the cost to purchase, build, or renovate existing state veterans homes, such as nursing homes or assisted living facilities.
However, Tuberville argues that limited funding can cause “years of delays for homes that are waiting to receive federal funds to match the funds approved at the state level.”
“This critical legislation would provide sufficient federal funding to cover all outstanding Priority 1 VA State Home Construction projects that already have the state-matching funds,” Tuberville said in a statement. “Our veteran heroes were willing to lay down their lives for our freedom. The least we can do is make sure they have a decent place to call home.”
A House version of the Veterans First Act of 2025 was already introduced by Rep. Dave Taylor (R-OH) on March 11. Taylor’s legislation has been referred to the House Appropriations Committee.
“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, taxpayer dollars were wastefully sent overseas to fund DEI initiatives while the pressing needs of veterans here at home were ignored,” Taylor said in a statement. “Under President Trump, Republicans are getting our Nation’s priorities straight and our Heroes are at the top of the list. I am proud to lead this bill to ensure State Veterans Homes across our country are equipped with the funding and facilities to meet our veterans’ needs.”
BIPARTISAN EFFORT BUILDS TO RESTORE USAID FUNDING TO FIGHT MALNUTRITION ABROAD
It’s unclear if either chamber will vote on the legislation and the proposal comes as both House and Senate GOP leadership are busy advancing Trump’s agenda through a process known as reconciliation.
Some programs with projects funded under USAID are also lobbying Congress to unfreeze funding allocated to them. Two U.S.-based companies that manufacture nutrient-dense paste, MANA Nutrition and Edesia Nutrition, and a nonprofit organization supporting them, the Eleanor Crook Foundation, are asking Congress to restore the funding for ready-to-use therapeutic food, or RUTF, which is produced for children at risk of starvation.
