Tuberville, Lee Introduce Legislation to Repurpose Woke USAID Funding to Improve Veterans' Homes

April 10, 2025 - WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Veterans First Act of 2025, which will redirect wasteful taxpayer funding previously allocated for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to instead pay for outstanding repairs in state veterans' homes. This legislation follows the Trump administration's actions to largely shut down USAID after it was revealed that the agency was using taxpayer funds to pay for woke, leftist priorities. As Alabama's representative on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Sen. Tuberville is always looking for ways to improve the lives for our veteran heroes.

"Let's be honest, USAID was largely being used as a Democrat slush fund under Joe Biden," said Sen. Tuberville. "We don't need to waste BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars on research in Wuhan or transgender operas in Colombia when our own veterans are living in horrible conditions. There are more than 160 state veteran homes across the country that provide long-term care to eligible military veterans. The VA currently offers construction grants that cover up to 65% of renovation costs, but funding constraints can cause years of delays for homes that are waiting to receive federal funds to match the funds approved at the state level. This critical legislation would provide sufficient federal funding to cover all outstanding Priority 1 VA State Home Construction projects that already have the state-matching funds. Our veteran heroes were willing to lay down their lives for our freedom. The least we can do is make sure they have a decent place to call home.

"Our bill takes 2 billion dollars that was going to be thrown into the USAID money pit and distributed to radical progressive causes across the globe, and instead puts it toward desperately needed housing and hospitals for the men and women who defend America. We should put our veterans before any foreign interests or organizations," said Sen. Lee.

"Under the Biden-Harris Administration, taxpayer dollars were wastefully sent overseas to fund DEI initiatives while the pressing needs of veterans here at home were ignored," said Rep. Taylor. "Under President Trump, Republicans are getting our Nation's priorities straight and our Heroes are at the top of the list. I am proud to lead this bill to ensure State Veterans Homes across our country are equipped with the funding to meet our veterans' needs."

Specifically, the Veterans First Act of 2025 would:

Redirect $2 billion of USAID funds toward State Veteran Home repairs and renovations,

Provide sufficient funding to cover all outstanding Priority 1 VA State Home construction grants,

These are ready-to-go projects that already possess state-matching funds and are only awaiting federal matching funds to being work.

Put America's veterans first and reorient our nation's spending priorities.

Representative Dave Taylor (R-OH-02) led the effort in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Sen. Tuberville represents Alabama's more than 400,000 veterans on the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee and has worked to make quality improvements for veterans. He has introduced several pieces of legislation that have been signed into law, including the Supporting Families of the Fallen Act, Restoring Benefits to Defrauded Veterans Act, and legislation to streamline Post-9/11 benefits for service members and their dependents.

Already this year, Sen. Tuberville introduced several pieces of legislation aimed at helping veterans, including the Veterans' Assuring Critical Care Expansions to Support Servicemembers (ACCESS) Act of 2025, Ensuring Continuity in Veterans Health Act, HBOT Access Act, and Veteran Fraud Reimbursement Act.

Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans' Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.