Government Auditors Criticize Ivanka Trump’s Flagship Policy Program

Ivanka Trump is being slammed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for her signature women’s empower initiative.

During her time working for her father’s administration, Ivanka Trump led the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, a federal plan to empower women.

As part of the Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act, a law signed by former President Trump in 2019, the initiative was established to financially support the women’s 10 U.S. government agencies’ programs.

Under the WEEE Act, the U.S. Agency for International Development, one of the 10 agencies, is obligated to give $265 million a year to support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Half of the money was required to go towards women and the other half towards the very poor.

The program has not lived up to expectations. The GAO’s 14-month audit released on Wednesday shows that the USAID had not kept track of the money or the measurement of the money’s impact.

“We identified three key gaps that impair USAID’s ability to develop such a process. First, USAID has not identified the total funding subject to the targeting requirements,” the GAO wrote in the report.

The Women’s Global Development and Prosperity also encountered some issues back in 2017 regarding women’s policy programs.

Ivanka Trump spent two years developing the program, which helped 12,6 million people In 2019.

The GAO issued six recommendations for USAID to prevent the misspending of funds in the future to ensure the resources reach the intended recipients in the future.

Article by Taylor Masi