The State Department has drawn on funds for international disasters and peacekeeping to transfer $1.25 billion of foreign aid to President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, a person familiar with the funding said.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., will introduce legislation Thursday that would redirect $1 billion of that money to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
The bill, shared first with Semafor, comes as the war in Iran spikes energy costs. “Instead of giving President Trump a $1 billion blank check to fund a ‘Board of Peace’ that has offered no transparency about how it is investing its money, let’s focus on helping American families afford their monthly power bill,” Cortez Masto said.
The US had previously pledged to contribute the $1.25 billion to the president’s new international organization, which Trump says will rebuild Gaza. Of the State Department money, officials pulled $1 billion from international disaster assistance; $200 million from peacekeeping operations; and $50 million from international organizations and programs, the person familiar with the funding said.
Trump has said the US will give $10 billion to the board in total. “We have nothing to announce at this time,” a State Department spokesperson said. The White House did not return a request for comment.