Tax dollars go up in smoke with dismantling of USAID

USAID’s programs in health, education, agriculture and economic growth in 130 countries were not a “gift”; they were investments that supported our diplomatic relationships with other countries. Guest columnist

Karen Van Roekel is a native of Iowa whose career spanned three decades and two dozen countries working no international public health, education and development initiatives.

She was deputy chief of the Research and Policy Division at the Office of Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition at USAID until the end of June 2025.

The contents of this essay represent the views and opinions of the author and do not reflect the views and opinions of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

I was born in Boone, grew up in West Des Moines and graduated from the University of Iowa. Ge