WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Pete Marocco, deputy administrator-designate at the U.S. Agency for International Development, will meet with members of Congress on Wednesday to discuss foreign assistance, two sources familiar with the plan said on Monday.
Marocco will use the “round table” with Democrats and Republicans on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee to provide an update on the review and reorganization of foreign aid by Republican President Donald Trump’s administration.
Thousands of staff have been put on leave and contractors terminated at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) since Trump began his second term in January, with Trump’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk leading a push to shrink the federal government.
Democratic members of Congress, and a few of Trump’s fellow Republicans, have raised concerns that the foreign aid cuts could lead to hunger, illness and death around the globe, while also diminishing U.S. influence.
Critics also say it is illegal for the administration to freeze aid and cut USAID without notifying and consulting Congress. Related lawsuits are making their way through the courts.
Spokespeople for the U.S. State Department and Representative Brian Mast, the Florida Republican who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; additional reporting by Jonathan Landay and Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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