Former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) criticized the Trump administration’s moves at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), saying it was an “egregious abuse of executive authority.”
Dent joined CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday, where he weighed in on the changes to the agency, which has essentially shut down in the last several days by tech billionaire Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE).
“Shuttering USAID is an egregious abuse of executive authority, full stop,” Dent said. “Elon Musk doesn’t have the authority to shut it down.”
“By the way, his role, I thought, was advisory, to give the president advice. That’s fine, give him advice,” he continued. “But this is an operational role to shutdown USAID.”
Dent argued that Congress has already appropriated funds for the international aid agency and that it is President Trump’s role to carry out that function.
“When Congress passes a spending bill, an appropriations bill becomes law. That’s not a suggestion. They’re not giving advice to the president. It’s a command, they’re telling him how to spend the money now,” Dent said.
He added that what has happened to the federal government over the last several days is “absolutely beyond” anything he’s ever seen.
“We’re talking about a purge at the FBI, shuttering USAID, pardoning J6 criminals, launching a preemptive war against Canada and Mexico in the name of national security,” Dent said, later adding “this is outrageous.”
The former lawmaker, who served in the House from 2005 to 2018, noted that there’s a role for Congress to play in combatting the flow of changes from Trump. The two chambers of Congress are not bystanders, Dent said.
“March 14, the government must be funded. Republicans will need a lot of Democrats to help them pass a funding bill, and I suspect Democrats are going to make a lot of demands, like making sure that the monies that have been appropriated be sent as designated or as ordered by Congress,” he continued.
Dent said he thinks GOP lawmakers are under a lot of stress amid the changes.
“I’m just waiting for the dam to break,” he said. “I think a number of them are going to have to speak our forcefully on this rather soon.”
While Dent didn’t hold back on his criticism of the USAID changes, many Republican lawmakers are backing Trump over the matter.
Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, noted that hard choices must be made to reduce the national debt. He said he was supportive of the administrations efforts to “restructure the agency” to better serve the country’s “national security interests.”
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told NBC News that Democratic presidents have tried to “push the limits” of their power and he doesn’t “begrudge” the Trump administration for trying.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio took over as acting chief of the agency earlier Monday.
