Republicans quiet as DOGE slashes GOP-backed pro-democracy group

In 2019, GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida spoke at an elegant event celebrating the work of the Ronald Reagan-founded International Republican Institute, saying he was “so proud” to support the group and hailing fellow hawks Nikki Haley and Sen. John McCain in the audience.

But as secretary of state, Rubio did not spare the group from President Donald Trump’s freeze on foreign aid and dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Both threaten to sweep away the organization and the broader universe of U.S. democracy-promoting work.

With its funds frozen, the IRI has furloughed most of its staff and started shuttering its overseas offices. It’s a turn of events that has shocked IRI staff and called into question the future of bipartisan aid work.

“Once Rubio was appointed (secretary of state), a lot of people felt safe,” said one former IRI staffer, who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing future job opportunities. “People thought the relationship was quite close and he’d be able to assist.”

But the group’s power-packed GOP board, which included Rubio until two months ago, was not enough to spare the IRI the U.S. DOGE Service’s chainsaw, raising questions about the influence of Republican hawks in an “America First” administration that is quickly reshaping alliances and the world order. (DOGE stands for Department of Government Efficiency and aims to reduce the size of the government.)

In the space of a few weeks, the United States voted with North Korea against a European-backed United Nations resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Trump branded Ukraine’s leader a “dictator” and fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the new defense secretary proposed steep cuts to his agency’s budget.

The fate of bipartisan programs working to advance democracy abroad and counter the influence of China and Russia are now in question, even as many Republican senators still say they support the use of “soft power” as one tool of American might.

The National Endowment for Democracy, a pro-democracy foundation that provides some of the IRI’s funding, has not been able to access its accounts at the Treasury Department for weeks, according to a statement from the group. Most of that group’s staff have been furloughed, as well, and it has suspended support for 2,000 partner groups around the world. On Wednesday, the group announced it was suing the Trump administration for the funds.

“It’s striking to me that Secretary Rubio, who has for so long been a really engaged China hawk, wouldn’t see the value of these two organizations in terms of their support for elections and democracy,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.

In an interview with journalist Catherine Herridge last month, Rubio said he had issued hundreds of waivers for frozen foreign aid programs, including one that aims to disrupt the flow of fentanyl in Nicaragua and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, program.

“I’m not against foreign aid. I’ve supported foreign aid. We’re going to do foreign aid,” Rubio said.

But the Trump administration has made clear in at least one court filing that it believes “democracy promotion” grants are particularly objectionable, grouping them in the same class as those involving diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

“It’s clear the administration has a particular antipathy for democracy assistance,” said Scott Busby, a former State Department official who is a senior adviser to Human Rights First. “This is a major break with past U.S. foreign policy.”

“It has been a bipartisan priority for the United States for at least the last 40 years,” he added.

Influential Republican senators on the IRI board have been advocating for the group behind closed doors but keeping their defense of the IRI muted in public.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, chairman of the IRI board, said the group was “collateral damage” from the defunding of USAID and needs an overhaul.

“I’ve been trying to work it because I think it’s a good organization,” Sullivan said of his efforts to ask the administration to restore funding to the IRI. “But it’s not perfect. It needs reform like everything else.”

Another board member, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, released a general statement calling for scrutiny of foreign aid when asked about the IRI. “As Sen. Ernst has said previously, every dollar should be scrutinized and tax dollars should be spent only in support of the American people and American interests,” a spokesperson for Ernst said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he was talking to the administration about the group’s fate.

“I want to talk to the secretary of state about that,” Graham said of the State Department’s decision to reject the IRI’s waiver applications. “We’ll see what comes of it.”

When Trump won a second term in office, the IRI’s leaders were not worried about their fate. The group felt that its mission was aligned with the Trump administration’s, as its budget had grown in the first Trump administration. And Trump’s tapping of Rubio as secretary of state was interpreted as a good sign, according to two former employees.

When the funding pause began, the group said, it supported the idea of a review of foreign aid. But little more than a week later, the staffers realized how dire the situation was after the group’s leaders said they were unable to draw down funds for February.

One former staffer said he was surprised when Ernst joined in the harsh criticism of USAID, which partially funds the IRI.

GOP senators have pressed Rubio directly on IRI and other democracy-related funding, according to two people affiliated with the group. The group’s leaders made clear to employees that they wanted them to lie low as these back channels remained open, one person said.

“I am a registered Republican, and it’s extremely disappointing to see the lack of response from the senators and congressmen on the Republican side,” one former IRI employee said.

Another former staffer said the public dissent from lawmakers “is obviously not as vocal as I wish it would be.”

The group’s president, Dan Twining, said that a foreign aid review was reasonable but that the Trump administration’s initial decision not to grant any waivers for IRI’s programming was disappointing. He said the group’s board is advocating for the IRI’s continued existence and remains hopeful.

“Everyone really wants to fight through this,” Twining said. “We just want to get our teams back on the field rather than giving adversaries a clear runway to project their malign influence.”

MAGA influencers with millions of followers started drawing attention to Republican senators’ links to the group earlier this year, with billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk retweeting one post targeting Graham that insinuated he was making money off the group and asking, “Is this legal?” “Very interesting” he replied to another post noting Sen. Tom Cotton’s ties to the group. The Arkansas Republican is also an IRI board member.

The group’s tax filing shows the board members are not paid.

The hard turn against foreign aid has resulted in an eerie quiet among some GOP hawks who were previously promoting democracy work vociferously, some Democrats say.

“It’s been unfortunate that … even though they will acknowledge privately that it’s important, they are unwilling to do it publicly,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.