The US State Department directed millions of dollars originally earmarked to promote human rights to promote far-right causes including Afrikaner rights in South Africa, safeguarding “Western civilizational norms,” and documenting “backsliding” in Europe related to mass migration, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
The funds, which come from the nearly $177 million in Democracy Funds, were obligated despite concerns and holds by the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the source said. They were due to lapse on Wednesday, the last day of the fiscal year.
The proposed causes align with the Trump administration’s broader shifts away from traditional human rights to focus on causes like alleged free-speech suppression and mass migration in Europe as well as “natural rights.” Two of the proposed grants are focused on Brazil and South Africa – countries where the administration has clashed with the governments – and a third is focused on Nigeria, where the administration has alleged “mass slaughter” of Christians.
It marks another instance of the administration bypassing Congress on funding matters, following its move to cancel $810 million of funding that has been appropriated by Congress for refugees, immigrants and other services.
Typically, the money from the Democracy Funds is used to support programs in authoritarian countries or those with limited democracies, the source said. Instead, the proposed grants, which were first reported by The Guardian, include funding for programs in Europe and the United Kingdom.
Asked about the funds, an unnamed State Department spokesperson said they had completed congressional notification requirements.
“The President promised to combat the destructive woke agenda that has done so much damage to our country and to the world,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said. “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.”
According to the source familiar with the matter, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had signed off on a memo to obligate the funds despite the ongoing holds. Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Sen. Jeanne Shaheen had put holds on 10 proposed awards worth a total of $22 million.
The grants have buy-in from the highest levels of the White House, including Vice President JD Vance, the source said. The White House referred to the State Department for comment.
“Congress appropriated money for 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 in a statement.
“In bypassing Congress, the Trump Administration is now using taxpayer funds to promote far-right organizations and programs in established democracies,” the New Hampshire Democrat said. “This is a waste of resources and undermines American values and our relationships with democratic partners, including allies in Europe.”
The proposed grants that had holds include one to combat alleged judicial overreach and censorship in Brazil. The Trump administration has clashed with the Lula government and had 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. However, the US has also revoked the visa of Brazil’s ambassador to the US and President Donald Trump has met with Flávio Bolsonaro, Jair Bolsonaro’s son who is running for president in Brazil.
Other proposed grants focus on Europe, including a $5 million award to support the development of “a civilizational alliance in Europe through research, public debates, and policy reform to safeguard freedom of expression, political competition, and national sovereignty.”
Top administration officials, including Vance, have lambasted European nations over allegations of free speech backsliding while also meeting with far-right European political figures.
Samuel Samson, a top appointee in the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, argued last year for the need for “civilizational allies” in Europe.
“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,” he wrote.
The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor has undergone significant changes under the second Trump administration.
As CNN reported last year, the US State Department will require its diplomats describe enforcement of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, alleged facilitation of mass migration, and government funding that supports abortion medications as “human rights infringements” in its next human rights report. The report will also shift focus to “natural rights” like freedom of speech, an official said at the time, in a move likely to target traditional European allies for alleged freedom of speech restrictions.