The U.S. State Department directed millions of dollars initially set aside to promote human rights toward causes including Afrikaner rights in South Africa, “Western civilizational norms” and documenting alleged “backsliding” in Europe related to mass migration, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The money came from nearly $177 million in Democracy Funds. It went ahead despite concerns and holds from the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the source said.
Who Controls the Money
The funds were due to lapse Wednesday, the fiscal year’s final day. Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a memo to obligate them despite the holds, according to the source. The grants had support from the White House’s highest levels, including Vice President JD Vance. The White House referred questions to the State Department.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Sen. Jeanne Shaheen placed holds on 10 proposed awards totaling $22 million. She said Congress had appropriated the Democracy Fund on a bipartisan basis “to support defenders of human rights, to assist victims of human rights violations and to instead promote the growth of democracy abroad.”
Shaheen said the administration was “using taxpayer funds to promote far-right organizations and programs in established democracies.” She called it “a waste of resources” that undermines relationships with democratic partners, including allies in Europe. Rubio signed the memo despite her objections, the source said. The people and institutions the grants are meant to serve aren't setting the terms of this dispute; officials at the top are deciding what counts as a human-rights priority and where public money goes.
The administration’s action follows its cancellation of $810 million appropriated by Congress for refugees, immigrants and other services. The source said Democracy Fund money typically goes to programs in authoritarian countries or countries with limited democracies. These proposed grants, by contrast, include programs in Europe and the United Kingdom. The Guardian first reported the proposed grants.
A New Official Definition
The proposed causes point to a wider shift away from traditional human rights and toward issues such as alleged free-speech suppression, mass migration in Europe and “natural rights.” Two proposed grants focus on Brazil and South Africa, where the administration has clashed with the governments. A third focuses on Nigeria, where the administration has alleged “mass slaughter” of Christians.
One grant facing a hold would combat alleged judicial overreach and censorship in Brazil. The Trump administration has clashed with the Lula government and imposed sanctions on Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the trial of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally. The sanctions were lifted in December. The United States also revoked the visa of Brazil’s ambassador to the U.S. President Donald Trump met with Flávio Bolsonaro, Jair Bolsonaro’s son, who is running for president in Brazil.
Another proposed award would direct $5 million toward developing “a civilizational alliance in Europe through research, public debates, and policy reform to safeguard freedom of expression, political competition, and national sovereignty.” Vance and other top administration officials have criticized European nations over alleged free-speech backsliding and met with far-right European political figures.
The Apparatus Rebrands Its Mission
Samuel Samson, a top appointee in the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, argued last year for “civilizational allies” in Europe. He wrote: “Our hope is that both Europe and the United States can recommit to our Western heritage, and that European nations will end the weaponization of government against those seeking to defend it.”
The bureau has changed significantly under the second Trump administration. CNN previously reported that diplomats would have to describe enforcement of diversity, equity and inclusion policies, alleged facilitation of mass migration, and government funding that supports abortion medications as “human rights infringements” in the next human rights report. An official said the report would also shift its focus to “natural rights” such as freedom of speech, a move likely to target traditional European allies over alleged speech restrictions.
An unnamed State Department spokesperson said the department had completed congressional notification requirements. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said: “The President promised to combat the destructive woke agenda that has done so much damage to our country and to the world. We will never apologize for defending Western civilization, opposing censorship, ending the era of mass migration, and taking action against government-sponsored race-based discrimination in South Africa.”