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Rubio’s foreign aid freeze applies to millions in funding for ‘condoms in Gaza’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s decision to freeze foreign aid over the weekend included pulling millions of dollars-worth of U.S. funding for “condoms in Gaza,” a White House official told Fox News Digital.
The revelation came as the official explained that a separate memo from the Office of Management and Budget will temporarily pause grants, loans and federal assistance programs pending a review into whether the funding coincides with President Donald Trump’s executive orders, such as those related to ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), the Green New Deal, and funding nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) “that undermine the national interest.”
“If the activity is not in conflict with the President’s priorities, it will continue with no issues,” the White House official told Fox News Digital. “This is similar to how HHS [Department of Health and Human Services] stopped the flow of grant money to the WHO [World Health Organization] after President Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the organization. Or how the State Department halted several million dollars going to condoms in Gaza this past weekend.”
RUBIO PAUSES FOREIGN AID FROM STATE DEPARTMENT AND USAID TO ENSURE IT PUTS ‘AMERICA FIRST’
Palestinians attach an incendiary device to inflated plastic bags and condoms to be directed and flown towards Israel, near Rafah along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel on Aug. 21, 2020. (SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department on Tuesday seeking additional information.
In her first-ever briefing Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the OBM found “that there was about to be $50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza.”
“That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money. So that’s what this pause is focused on, being good stewards of tax dollars,” Leavitt told reporters. She said DOGE and OBM also found $37 million was about to be sent to the WHO before Trump’s executive order breaking ties with the global health body.
The Jerusalem Post reported in 2020 that scores of condoms were being used to create IED-carrying balloons that winds would carry into southern Israel, raising alarm on schoolyards, farmlands and highways.
At the time, the Post reported that the improvised explosive devices – floated into Israel via inflated contraceptives – burned thousands of hectares of land and caused “millions of shekels of damage.” It’s not clear if the practice continues.
Just two days after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, which involved Hamas terrorists brutally raping some of the approximately 1,200 people killed in southern Israel and hundreds of others brought back into Gaza as hostages, a global NGO known as the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) released a statement regarding the resulting war and escalating violence.
The NGO claimed that any blockade of aid shipments into Gaza would infringe on their “enormous gains made in life-saving sexual and reproductive healthcare in this region.”
“Palestinians are systematically denied sexual and reproductive healthcare and rights,” the executive director of a corresponding NGO, the Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association (PFPPA), said at the time. “Our health system has been repeatedly targeted and depleted by the Israeli occupation, and the more it disintegrates, the more it will hinder the full realization of these rights for women and girls.”
On Sunday, Rubio paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for review.
Palestinians prepare incendiary devices before being attached to inflated condoms and plastic bags, to be directed and flown towards Israel, near Rafah along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel on Aug. 21, 2020. (SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)
The move came in response to Trump’s executive order, “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid,” issued last week directing a sweeping 90-day pause on most U.S. foreign assistance disbursed through the State Department.
The State Department said Sunday that Rubio was initiating a review of “all foreign assistance programs to ensure they are efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda.”
“President Trump stated clearly that the United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people. Reviewing and realigning foreign assistance on behalf of hardworking taxpayers is not just the right thing to do, it is a moral imperative. The Secretary is proud to protect America’s investment with a deliberate and judicious review of how we spend foreign assistance dollars overseas,” a State Department spokesperson said Sunday.
“The mandate from the American people was clear – we must refocus on American national interests,” the statement added. “The Department and USAID take their role as stewards of taxpayer dollars very seriously. The implementation of this Executive Order and the Secretary’s direction furthers that mission. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, ‘Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?’”
The wind propels refrigerant gas-filled condoms attached to incendiary devices into Israeli territory after being released by a group of masked Palestinians near the Israel-Gaza border. (Mohammed Talatene/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Rubio had specifically exempted only emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt from the freeze on foreign assistance.
On Monday, at least 56 senior USAID officials were placed on leave pending an investigation into alleged efforts to thwart Trump’s orders, the Associated Press reported, citing a current official and a former official at USAID.
An internal USAID notice sent late Monday and obtained by the AP said new acting administrator Jason Gray had identified “several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the President’s Executive Orders and the mandate from the American people.” “As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we complete our analysis of these actions,” Gray wrote.
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The senior agency officials put on leave were experienced employees who had served in multiple administrations, including Trump’s, the former USAID official said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Rubio’s foreign aid freeze applies to millions in funding for ‘condoms in Gaza’Senator Marco Rubio has recently announced a freeze on millions of dollars in foreign aid that was designated for various projects, including the distribution of condoms in Gaza. The move has sparked controversy and debate among lawmakers and advocacy groups.
The funding for the condom distribution program in Gaza was part of a broader initiative aimed at promoting sexual health and education in the region. However, Rubio and other critics argue that the money would be better spent on other priorities, such as infrastructure development or humanitarian aid.
Proponents of the program argue that access to contraception is crucial for public health and preventing the spread of sexually transmitted infections. They also point out that family planning services can help empower women and promote gender equality in conservative societies like Gaza.
The freeze on foreign aid funding has raised questions about the United States’ role in promoting global health and development goals. It remains to be seen how this decision will impact the people of Gaza and other regions that rely on foreign aid for essential services.
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- Rubio foreign aid freeze
- Gaza funding cut
- Condoms in Gaza
- Foreign aid controversy
- Rubio funding decision
- US aid to Gaza
- Humanitarian aid freeze
- Rubio foreign aid policy
- Gaza health funding
- International aid cuts
#Rubios #foreign #aid #freeze #applies #millions #funding #condoms #Gaza
Dept. of Education says Title IX applies to payments to athletes
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Paula Lavigne
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Paula Lavigne
ESPN Investigative Reporter
- Data analyst and reporter for ESPN’s Enterprise and Investigative Unit.
- Winner, 2014 Alfred I. duPont Columbia University Award; finalist, 2012 IRE broadcast award; winner, 2011 Gannett Foundation Award for Innovation in Watchdog Journalism; Emmy nominated, 2009.
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Dan Murphy
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Dan Murphy
ESPN Staff Writer
- Covers the Big Ten
- Joined ESPN.com in 2014
- Graduate of the University of Notre Dame
The plans that many major college athletic departments are making for how they will distribute new direct payments to their athletes would violate Title IX law, according to a memo published by the U.S. Department of Education on Thursday.
The memo provides some long-awaited guidance about how gender equity laws will apply to a new era of college sports that is on track to begin this summer. It’s not clear if the Department of Education will interpret Title IX law the same way when incoming President Donald Trump’s administration installs new officials in the near future.
The NCAA and its power conferences have agreed to allow each school to share up to $20.5 million in direct payments to its athletes via name, image and likeness deals as one of the terms of a pending antitrust settlement. Many schools from those power conferences have developed plans to distribute the majority of that money to athletes in sports that generate the most revenue — mostly football and men’s basketball players.
In some cases, athletic directors have publicly shared that they intend to provide upward of 75% of that money to their football players.
However, the Office for Civil Rights — the division of the Department of Education that enforces Title IX law — said in its memo Thursday that those future payments should be considered “athletic financial assistance” and therefore must be shared proportionally between men and women athletes.
“When a school provides athletic financial assistance in forms other than scholarships or grants, including compensation for the use of a student-athlete’s NIL, such assistance also must be made proportionately available to male and female athletes,” the memo said.
Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs. The law requires that schools provide opportunities to play a varsity sport that are proportional to the student body’s overall gender makeup. It also requires schools to provide financial assistance that is in proportion to the number of students of each sex who play sports on campus. If 50% of a school’s athletes are women, then 50% of the school’s financial aid for athletes must be allotted to women.
The memo is not as clear in providing guidance on how payments from booster collectives closely associated with their schools are impacted by Title IX law. It states that the department does not consider money provided by a third party in an NIL deal as athletic financial assistance like the future revenue sharing payments or scholarship dollars. But if money from private sources ends up creating a disparity in an athletic program, it is possible that NIL agreements could “trigger a school’s Title IX obligations.”
Male and female athletes also deserve equivalent publicity, including in sports information personnel, the amount and quality of promotion, and even in social media postings. If a school fails to provide equitable publicity, those students risk losing out on NIL opportunities, the memo states. ESPN reported a little over a year ago that 55 athletic departments — or 84% of the then-Power 5 — mentioned men’s teams more often than women’s teams on their main accounts on what was then Twitter, and women’s teams were more likely to have to share social media managers with other teams.
While the Department of Education has the authority to punish schools for failing to meet Title IX requirements, historically all cases regarding how the law applies to college sports have come from athletes who sue their school and allege unequal treatment. There are multiple pending Title IX lawsuits related to NIL compensation from third parties. The memo published during the final two days of this department’s time in power could provide some fodder for future potential lawsuits if any athletes sue their school over the way future direct payments are made to athletes.
“I’d be astonished if schools that have announced they are planning something other than proportional distribution continue with those plans,” said attorney Arthur Bryant, who is the midst of a Title IX lawsuit against the University of Oregon. “They would be knowingly and intentionally planning to violate the law.”
Bryant said he thinks the clarifying language laid out by the department also has the potential to derail the pending antitrust settlement. A hearing to finalize that settlement is scheduled for April.
The Department of Education has recently declared that Title IX, the federal law prohibiting gender discrimination in education, also applies to payments made to college athletes. This decision marks a significant shift in how the law is interpreted and enforced, particularly in the realm of collegiate sports.Title IX has traditionally been associated with ensuring equal opportunities for male and female athletes in terms of scholarships, facilities, and resources. However, this new interpretation expands the scope of the law to include compensation for athletes, particularly in the wake of the growing trend of athletes receiving payment for their name, image, and likeness (NIL).
This ruling has the potential to have far-reaching implications for the world of college athletics, as it could impact how schools allocate funds to athletes, as well as how they comply with Title IX regulations. It remains to be seen how colleges and universities will navigate these new guidelines and what impact it will have on the landscape of collegiate sports.
Overall, this decision signals a significant development in the ongoing debate over athlete compensation and gender equity in sports, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out in the coming months and years.
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- Dept. of Education
- Title IX
- athletes
- payments to athletes
- college athletes
- NCAA
- student athletes
- gender equity
- gender discrimination
- college sports
- gender equality
- Title IX compliance
- Department of Education
- student athlete rights
- gender in sports
#Dept #Education #Title #applies #payments #athletes
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Boise State coach Spencer Danielson applies faith, ‘love’ built in San Diego to College Football Playoff pursuit – San Diego Union-Tribune
Chris Johnson knew Boise State coach Spencer Danielson would help keep the Broncos’ College Football Playoff hopes alive, even as they faced a late-season crossroads.
Johnson, Danielson’s football coach at Horizon Christian Academy in Clairemont, saw a familiar positive energy in Danielson even as Boise State trailed Mountain West counterpart San Jose State by two touchdowns in their Nov. 16 game.
“When they were down early and everyone was fired up, (Danielson) came up the field clapping. He was inspired,” Johnson said. “And I had no doubt that they were going to come back and win that game.”
Boise State dominated the second half en route to a 42-21 victory. Running back Ashton Jeanty scored his second and third rushing touchdowns of the night, adding to a résumé that made him the Heisman Trophy runner-up.
The Broncos’ comeback extended a winning streak that now sits at 11 games ahead of Tuesday’s Fiesta Bowl matchup with Penn State.
The Phoenix-area bowl game is one of four College Football Playoff quarterfinals. It’s the closest the long-successful but often overlooked Boise State program has come to college football’s national championship.
The Broncos’ historic campaign under Danielson, a 36-year-old in his first full season as head coach, is rooted in San Diego.
“I was homeschooled up until high school,” said Danielson, a Solana Beach native. “At Horizon, my first time going to school, I was just impacted by the teachers there, with No. 1 being Chris Johnson. … If it wasn’t for him and my time at Horizon, I don’t know if I’d be coaching now.”
The qualities that have made Danielson a winning coach were evident decades ago. Danielson took over at quarterback for the Panthers despite having never played the position. (He was mostly a defensive back and wide receiver.)
At first, he couldn’t throw the ball more than 15 or 20 yards.
“He worked with the coaches every day on exploring motion and how to recover — everything that goes into being a starting quarterback,” Johnson said. “And you could see his leadership come out during that time.”
Danielson continued to blossom after high school. He played first at the University of San Diego and later at Azusa Pacific. Danielson flourished at linebacker under APU coach Victor Santa Cruz, himself a former San Diego-area high school star.
“When you spend time with him, within the first 15 minutes you realize this is a focused, all-in individual,” said Santa Cruz, a Rancho Buena Vista High School grad who is now the coach at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano. “It’s his deep convictions, his deep passion and his authenticity that says, ‘Man, he loves the game, but he loves his teammates and wants to go all-out for them.’ That’s what makes him such a great coach.”
APU defensive lineman Manako Tuifua (45) along with Spencer Danielson (7) and strong safety Nick Grunsky (36) tackles Western Oregon running back Kenneth Haynes (22) in the first half of a NCAA Division II football game at Citrus College on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012 in Glendora, Calif.(Keith Birmingham/ San Gabriel Tribune) Santa Cruz offered Danielson his first coaching position as a graduate assistant at APU. That role eventually led to Danielson overseeing the Cougars’ linebackers.
“That’s where I went from being intrigued about coaching to saying, ‘I want to coach, and I want to have an impact,’” Danielson said of his time at APU. “Not because I love football so much, but because I truly want to impact these young men’s lives on and off the football field.”
Danielson left Azusa Pacific for Boise State in 2017. In seven seasons, he climbed from graduate assistant (2017) to defensive ends coach (2018) to defensive line coach and co-defensive coordinator (2019-20) to defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach (2021-23). Boise State fired coach Andy Avalos with the Broncos sitting at 5-5 last November, and gave Danielson the job on an interim basis.
Danielson’s Broncos won their first three games, beating UNLV in the Mountain West title game, before falling to UCLA in the L.A. Bowl. Between the conference championship game and bowl game, Danielson was awarded the full-time job and given a five-year, $6.5 million contract.
Danielson’s guiding principles come from his religious faith, which he said grew as he played for Johnson and Santa Cruz.
Danielson describes his core beliefs as: “No. 1, love Jesus. No. 2, work hard. No. 3, treat people right.”
“I’m not saying I do those things all the time,” he said, “but that’s the foundation of my life.”
Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty (2) is greeted by head coach Spencer Danielson before an NCAA college football game against Wyoming Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Laramie, Wyo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) It also provides the foundation for Boise State’s success. Danielson joined the Broncos’ staff the same year that Horizon Christian closed its doors. High Tech High took over the space near Balboa Avenue three years after purchasing the campus from Horizon.
The physical church and school may be gone, but the platform Danielson has — and uses — keeps Horizon’s impact alive.
Just ask his former coach.
“They can take down the walls, but they can’t take the spirit of Horizon away,” Johnson said. “That is always going to connect us together. … The vision of Horizon was very simple: Train them up and then send them out into the world to do the same thing.
“It’s a blessing to see it happen, but it was expected.”
Originally Published:
Boise State coach Spencer Danielson applies faith, ‘love’ built in San Diego to College Football Playoff pursuit – San Diego Union-TribuneSpencer Danielson, head coach of Boise State University’s football team, is bringing a unique blend of faith and love to his pursuit of a spot in the College Football Playoff. Danielson, who was born and raised in San Diego, credits his upbringing in the city for instilling in him the values of hard work, dedication, and a strong sense of community.
In an exclusive interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, Danielson opened up about how his faith has guided him throughout his coaching career and how the love he has for his players drives him to push them to be the best they can be. He also shared how growing up in San Diego has shaped his coaching philosophy and inspired him to build a program that is not only successful on the field but also fosters a sense of unity and camaraderie among the players.
As Boise State continues its quest for a spot in the College Football Playoff, Danielson remains focused on leading his team with passion, purpose, and a deep belief in the power of faith and love. With his roots in San Diego and his eyes set on the ultimate goal, Danielson is determined to make a lasting impact on the world of college football.
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Boise State coach Spencer Danielson, College Football Playoff pursuit, San Diego Union-Tribune, faith in football, San Diego sports, college football coaching, Boise State Broncos, Spencer Danielson coaching style, faith and love in sports, San Diego college football.
#Boise #State #coach #Spencer #Danielson #applies #faith #love #built #San #Diego #College #Football #Playoff #pursuit #San #Diego #UnionTribune
