Trump administration shifts funds from human rights to supporting far-right causes

The State Department has steered millions of dollars meant for human rights work toward causes favored by the political right, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The money came from roughly $177 million in Democracy Funds and was committed on the last day of the fiscal year, when it was set to expire. Proposed uses include advancing the interests of Afrikaners in South Africa, protecting what are described as Western civilizational norms, and tracking alleged backsliding in Europe tied to mass migration. Other grants target Brazil and Nigeria. One is a $5 million award for a civilizational alliance in Europe.

The spending had been blocked by Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who held 10 proposed awards totaling $22 million. The source said Secretary of State Marco Rubio approved a memo to proceed anyway, and that Vice President JD Vance and others at senior White House levels backed the plan. Such money normally goes to authoritarian or weakly democratic countries rather than Europe or the United Kingdom.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CNN’s reporting. Read the full story at CNN →