The Donald Trump administration has frozen $50 million originally earmarked for condom distribution in Gaza.
The White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt disclosed this during a briefing yesterday.
She said the expenditure was discovered in Trump’s first week including by the new Department of Government Efficiency led by X owner and billionaire, Elon Musk.
Musk’s initiative and the budget office “found that there was about to be 50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza,” Leavitt said.
“That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money,” she said.
Condoms generally cost less than one dollar each in the United States and much less in bulk. Just over two million people live in Gaza, nearly all of which has been heavily damaged in the 15-month war with Israel.
The freeze, now temporarily blocked by a federal judge, was part of a broader fiscal policy aimed at reviewing and potentially reallocating federal budget expenditures to align with the administration’s priorities.
The decision to freeze federal funding was part of an executive order aimed at rigorously reviewing and potentially reallocating U.S. budget expenditures across the board, with a focus on ensuring that all spending aligns with national interests and priorities.
The court’s ruling highlights the potential legal challenges to adjusting how federal funds are administered amid concerns about the broader implications for both domestic and international programmes.
During the briefing, Leavitt said the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by tech Musk, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) discovered the funds for condom distribution in Gaza shortly before they were due to be disbursed.
“DOGE and OMB also found that there was about to be 50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza,” she said. “That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money.”
Condoms in humanitarian aid are used for health and reproductive purposes.
In the wake of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks in Israel, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) said blocking aid shipments into Gaza would harm “enormous gains” made in life saving sexual and reproductive healthcare.
IPPF added that Palestinians are “systematically denied sexual and reproductive healthcare and rights.”
On Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the state department was reviewing all foreign assistance programs to make sure they’re consistent with Trump’s America First agenda. Rubio said policies are justified if they make America safer, stronger and more prosperous.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres voiced concern about the aid freeze by the United States, long the world’s largest provider of development assistance in absolute dollar terms.
With agency reports
