After Doge Cuts, Bill Gates calls on congress to “show his values” on foreign aid

Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft and the founder of the philanthropic foundation of several billion dollars, was optimistic at the start of the Trump administration that the White House was open to hearing the need to spend for foreign aid.

However, in the months that have passed since then, Trump’s team – notably Tesla CEO, Elon Musk and his Ministry of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) – has wiped billions of foreign aid in cost and efficiency collection.

Since 2001, Pew Research estimates that the United States has spent between 0.7% and 1.4% of its GDP on foreign aid. In 2023, the most recent figures obtained by PEW, this number amounted to $ 71.9 billion and 1.2% of federal expenses. These funds went to everything from the fight against diseases such as polio and tuberculosis to environmental and educational projects in countries around the world.

However, this relatively small part of the federal budget was an assertion, voters and politicians requesting why American funds are spent abroad when domestic problems accumulate.

“So this crisis is that some people say” hey, even this 1% should we do this or not? “And I say:” Listen to people who come out and see work “. We should not be the first year that more children die than the previous year,” Gates at CBS Mornings told an interview broadcast yesterday. “We have to continue the progress that Americans should be very proud.”

Gates puts his money where his mouth is. In May, Tech Titan announced that it had decided to give “almost all my wealth” – some billions of dollars – to its foundation, which will be deployed to cure diseases in the poorest countries in the world. But the funds have come with a warning: this work must be completed, and the 200 billion dollars of the Foundation (including its current allocation and projected growth) must be spent, over the next 20 years. Then the Gates foundation will close its doors for good.

Gates said that the USAID Cups had increased the debt of organizations that had been built on the funds, the staff nervously watching the next budget to see how allocated to foreign aid was allocated. He said: “The big question is that (the government) establishes the new budget, what level it will be set and that this money will be really sent.

“It is therefore an ideal moment that Congress shows its feeling of values, to continue the fight against polio, to ensure that mothers obtain the nutrition they need. With all the things that happen in the world, even if it affects more children than anything else, it is not recommended as it was before. Most people do not even know the great success.”

Remaining optimistic

Gates had already issued disastrous warnings on the impact of Doge’s cuts to the USAID. For example in an interview with the Financial time Earlier this year, Gates said: “The image of the richest man in the world (Elon Musk) killing the poorest children in the world is not pretty.”

Musk, driving Doge at the time, retaliated: “I would like him to show us proofs that it is true. This is false.” But he conceded: “If in fact it is true, what I doubt, then we will repair it.”

Forcing a more constructive tone with CBS, Gates said he had reasons to be optimistic. “The last 25 years have been miraculous,” he said. “With a very modest level of generosity … The United States with partners have been able to reduce the number of children who die each year by more than 10 million per year to less than 5 million per year.

“In fact, if we simply maintain this modest level, due to the great innovations and incredible people on the ground by doing this work, we can cut it in half.”

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