The Trump administration found itself in an awkward position on Wednesday after media reports revealed that tonnes of food intended for malnourished children were to be incinerated because it had expired, at a time when the US is slashing its international aid.
"I don't have a good answer to that question," Michael Rigas, the State Department's chief management and personnel officer, said when questioned on the matter by the US Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.
Pressed by Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, Rigas said: “I think that this was just a casualty of the shutdown of USAID,” the US Agency for International Development. He added that he was "distressed" that the food was being wasted and promised to find out what happened.
US officials said Washington plans to incinerate the high-energy biscuits, intended as emergency food for malnourished young children in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which expired in July in a warehouse in Dubai.
According to The Atlantic magazine, the United States purchased the biscuits towards the end of former President Joe Biden's administration for approximately €600,000. US taxpayers will spend an additional €100,000 to destroy them.
Senator Kaine said he raised the issue with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in March and lamented that nothing had been done, with the government "preferring to keep the warehouse closed, let the food expire, and then burn it" rather than distribute it.
After more than six decades, USAID officially ceased to exist on 1 July, following a decision by the Trump administration that it did not serve the interests of the United States. The closure of the agency, which was merged with the State Department, caused an uproar in humanitarian circles.
