House Hearing on Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Foreign Assistance Reveals Systemic Oversight Gaps

Fox News covered a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing where federal inspectors general and auditors testified about longstanding vulnerabilities in how the U.S. manages billions in foreign aid. The hearing featured testimony from Adam Kaplan, the inspector general for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and Leticia Love Greer, director of international affairs and trade at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), who presented findings on fraud prevention and risk management across foreign assistance programs.

According to the witnesses, foreign assistance has been plagued by predictable fraud schemes exploited by bad actors. Kaplan detailed specific cases where NGOs and contractors falsified records about past support to terrorist organizations, and where the U.N. obstructed U.S. investigations for months or years. Fox News reports that Kaplan alleged the U.N. regularly resists transparency requirements, citing cases where response times to information requests ranged from six months to two years. Love Greer similarly testified about documented instances: a $550 million bribery scheme involving USAID contractors, an $800 million joint venture awarded despite evidence a partner firm was involved in fraud, and a director arrested for a nine-year scheme that netted over $240,000.

According to the video, both witnesses identified three major oversight failures. First, Fox News reports that Love Greer alleged agencies like the State Department and USAID had not conducted program-specific fraud risk assessments. Second, Kaplan alleged that transparency gaps existed throughout the aid chain—particularly regarding U.N. agencies, which reportedly lack enforceable accountability mechanisms compared to domestic NGOs and contractors. Third, both witnesses alleged insufficient staffing hampered oversight: Kaplan noted that USAID had one contracting officer for every $65 million in funds, compared to the Department of Defense’s one officer per $15 million.

In the video, Kaplan also alleged that award agreements lacked forum selection clauses, allowing foreign-based organizations to escape U.S. jurisdiction in fraud cases. Fox News reports he described a case where a British NGO that falsified past affiliations with Hezbollah was dismissed from court because of this contractual gap. Similarly, he alleged the U.N. was exempt from vetting requirements that applied to other recipients, and that contractors—unlike grantees—were not required to certify they had no terrorist ties.

Love Greer testified that from 2016 through September 2025, the GAO made over 50 recommendations to improve fraud risk management in foreign assistance. According to the video, as of early 2026, agencies had implemented only 22 of those recommendations, while 29 remained unimplemented. Fox News reports that Love Greer alleged this gap in implementation was particularly concerning given the transition of foreign assistance responsibilities from USAID to the State Department.

Congressional questioning revealed additional documented cases cited in the hearing. Fox News reports witnesses alleged there were instances of food aid diversion in Somalia and Ethiopia, incomplete road construction projects in remote locations, and a case in Ethiopia where understaffing allowed a major food diversion scandal to go undetected. Kaplan also described investigating U.N. staff for alleged ties to Hamas to prevent U.S. taxpayer funds from reaching their salaries.

Several representatives pressed witnesses on whether the elimination of USAID was the appropriate response to fraud. According to Fox News, Kaplan testified that the same risk vulnerabilities that plagued USAID would follow foreign assistance to the State Department. Love Greer testified that preventing fraud requires strengthened oversight mechanisms, improved transparency, modernized monitoring tools, and adequate staffing—not agency elimination. The video shows witnesses recommend that Congress reinstate reporting requirements on anti-fraud activities and that agencies implement existing GAO and OIG recommendations.

The hearing also addressed staffing capacity at the State Department. Fox News reports Kaplan testified that adequate personnel are essential to prevent fraud in complex emergency environments, and that the State Department’s Inspector General had already warned the department may lack the staffing to implement all assumed foreign assistance programs. Love Greer testified that the GAO had been delayed for nearly eight months in receiving responses from the State Department to basic questions about staffing levels and oversight capacity.

In Fox News’s Own Words

“Nobody has a track record like the US AID IG in fighting fraud and corruption and foreign assistance.”

“Ensuring transparent access to information. USAID heavily relied on award recipients operating in remote locations to self-disclose fraud allegations.”

“Rather than playing Monday morning quarterback, USAID’s experience places us in the pregame huddle, allowing us to inform Congress and agencies of risks before billions of dollars of programming goes out.”

This hearing matters because it documents the scale and persistence of fraud vulnerabilities in foreign aid—and frames the debate around oversight solutions. The testimony suggests that the mechanisms to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse existed but were underutilized or underfunded, and that transferring responsibilities without addressing those structural gaps may not reduce the risk to taxpayers.