TRENTON, NJ — Congressman Jeff Van Drew is calling for an end to what he describes as “bizarre, dysfunctional” government spending overseas, urging that taxpayer dollars be redirected to benefit Americans instead.
Van Drew’s statement comes as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) works to identify waste and fraud in federal programs. While DOGE does not make budget cuts, it provides recommendations to Congress and the White House.
“Washington bureaucrats have been wasting the American people’s hard-earned money for far too long,” Van Drew said, emphasizing the need for targeted spending reductions without harming essential programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Van Drew highlighted several expenditures he deemed unnecessary, including $15 million for condoms to the Taliban, $2 million for LGBTQ activism in Guatemala, $1.5 million for DEI initiatives in Serbian workplaces, and $2.5 million for electric vehicles in Vietnam.
Other spending criticized included $70,000 for a DEI music festival in Ireland, $446,700 to promote atheism in Nepal, and $47,020 for a transgender opera in Colombia. He also pointed to domestic spending concerns, such as $14 million in cash vouchers for illegal immigrants at the southern border.
“We cannot continue to spend money we do not have on things we do not need,” Van Drew said, arguing that taxpayer funds should be used to support American families instead of foreign aid and bureaucratic programs. He also called for eliminating taxes on Social Security, tips, and overtime pay.