Rubio’s years of strong support for USAID stand in contrast to his sudden criticism of the aid agency

(CNN) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio, newly in charge of the besieged US Agency for International Development, was for years a staunch supporter of its mission while in the US Senate, reversing his views only recently as President Donald Trump and his allies have moved to dismantle the agency.

After Elon Musk said that Trump had signed off on his plans to “shut down” USAID, with hundreds of employees put on leave and its funding frozen, Rubio on Monday accused the agency of operating as a “global charity,” telling Fox News, “They have basically evolved into an agency that believes that they’re not even a US government agency.”

But a CNN KFile review of Rubio’s past comments shows he has been for more than a decade a major supporter of foreign aid and USAID, which in fiscal year 2023 distributed more than $40 billion in foreign aid to more than 160 different countries.

Rubio’s most recent comments directly contradict years of support and praise he has directed toward USAID, including a tweet he posted in February 2017 that said, “Foreign Aid is not charity. We must make sure it is well spent, but it is less than 1% of budget & critical to our national security.”

During his Fox News interview Monday, Rubio also dismissed concerns that scaling back USAID’s presence could allow China to expand its influence in developing nations.

But just three years ago, Rubio argued the exact opposite, urging the Biden administration in a 2022 letter to prioritize USAID’s funding as a key tool to “counter the Chinese Communist Party’s expanding global influence.”

A longtime defender of US foreign aid, Rubio pushed back against criticism of the agency in repeated comments uncovered by CNN — defending aid as both vital and a small part of America’s overall fiscal budget.

“We don’t have to give foreign aid. We do so because it furthers our national interest. That’s why we give foreign aid. Now obviously there’s a component to foreign aid that’s humanitarian in scope, and that’s important too,” he said in February 2013.

“Foreign aid as a part of our overall budget is less than 1% of the total amount the US Government spends,” Rubio said in one 2017 speech on the Senate floor. “I promise you it is going to be a lot harder to recruit someone to anti-Americanism and anti-American terrorism if the United States of America is the reason one is even alive today.”

“Anybody who tells you that we can slash foreign aid and that will bring us to balance is lying to you. Foreign aid is less than one percent of our budget. It’s just not true,” he added in August 2019, while speaking to the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches.

As secretary of state, Rubio is overseeing a dramatic shift in US foreign aid policy, moving to bring the USAID under more direct administration control and significantly curbing its independence. On Monday, Rubio said he was now acting director of the agency.

USAID administers US foreign aid and development assistance. The agency focuses on humanitarian relief, global health, democracy promotion and economic growth. It also provides disaster aid, works to combat diseases like HIV/AIDS, works to support free elections and funds education programs in developing nations.

In his Fox News interview, Rubio had some harsh words for USAID, saying it takes taxpayer funds and “spend(s) it as a global charity irrespective of whether it is in the national interest or not in the national interest.” Rubio said: “There are things that are happening at USAID that we should not be involved in funding or that we have a lot of questions about, but they are completely uncooperative. So we had no choice but to take dramatic steps to bring this thing under control.”

But Rubio also suggested there were portions of USAID’s funding that he supports.

“There are things that we do through USAID that we should continue to do, that makes sense. And we’ll have to decide is that better through the State Department, or is that better through something, a reformed USAID? That’s the process we’re working through,” he said.

CNN reached out to the State Department for comment on Rubio’s past statements but did not receive a response.

Longstanding praise of USAID’s global work

A CNN KFile review of Rubio’s Senate website shows just how vital he thought the agency was, repeatedly praising USAID’s work worldwide across a broad range of initiatives.

Over the years, Rubio also has praised USAID’s efforts in combating tuberculosis globally, asked for hurricane relief in the Caribbean and supported maternal and child health programs.

He also pushed for USAID’s involvement in humanitarian relief in Colombia; election support in Burma, Mexico and Latin America; advancing women’s global economic empowerment; combating human trafficking; promoting Internet freedom in Cuba; expanding access to quality education globally; supplying aid to Venezuelans fleeing the country; supporting democracy efforts in the Indo-Pacific and Iran; reducing violence in unstable regions; and combating substance abuse in the Philippines.

“Foreign aid is a very cost-effective way, not only to export our values and our example, but to advance our security and our economic interests,” he said in April 2012 to the Brookings Institute.

As a senator, Rubio also introduced legislation in 2013 and 2015 to make foreign assistance programs more transparent. A version of the bill was later passed in 2016.

“A lot of times people say, ‘Well, cut foreign aid.’ Foreign aid is less than 1% of our budget. But foreign aid can make a difference when properly used. And if you ever have a chance, travel to the African continent and you will meet people who are alive today because the American taxpayer funded antiviral HIV medications that kept them alive. It will not be easy to radicalize people who are alive because the American taxpayer saved their lives and the lives of their children,” Rubio said while on the presidential campaign trail in late 2015.

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