Rubio Spars with Congress Over Family Planning

By | 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 19 (C-Fam) In congressional testimony this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the UN has “lost its purpose” and “lost its mission.” Appearing at a hearing on the Trump administration’s 2027 foreign affairs budget, Secretary Rubio criticized international institutions that have long dominated global health and which have spent hundreds of millions of dollars overseas to promote UN-style family planning and abortion advocacy. A major shift is underway in how the US spends taxpayer dollars, and it is having direct implications on global health funding.

For many years, it has been nearly impossible to separate family planning from abortion in foreign aid. Trump’s America First agenda prohibits that funding and redirects US foreign policy toward domestic security and national interests. For example, 2027 saw a significant decline in global health funding from $9.4 to $5.1 million.

Representative Grace Meng (D-NY) was critical of this shift in priorities. Specifically, she highlighted the Trump Administration’s disruption of millions of dollars that flow to overseas abortion groups through family planning aid. Meng claimed the Trump Administration is “attacking women” because of its resistance to distribute $10 million worth of contraceptives that are currently in a Belgian warehouse. Rubio replied that the “government of the United States is not going to be involved in distributing contraceptives and all these other things around the world.”

The Trump administration’s agenda seeks to optimize health, especially for women, by improving healthcare infrastructure across the world and transitioning recipient countries to self-reliance. Rubio said that almost every foreign aid program “involves more women, girls and children than they do adult males because of the nature of the aid that we’re providing.”

In that same exchange, Meng argued that this is a significant shift from the past and that a new plan is needed. She said that “for over six decades in a bipartisan way, the US has supported these international family planning programs…What is the plan, and under what authority are you refusing to spend taxpayer dollars directed by Congress?”

Rubio’s response reinforces the administration’s overall argument that the US has already borne a disproportionate share of global humanitarian and development funding. This included funding for the UN Population Fund and the World Health Organization, which were given no funding in the 2027 budget proposal. “No country in the world spends more on humanitarian assistance than the United States, not even close,” he said.

In terms of the US’s relationship to the UN and global partnerships, Rubio said “there’s been some utility,” but it “is in need of continued, dramatic reform.” He was firm that the future of American foreign aid will be dramatically revised to prioritize American interests before those of other countries. It has been “very frustrating” to this administration because the UN has “been unable to intervene or play a constructive role in most of the major crises around the world.”

While Rubio said he knows that “there are disagreements,” his statements reveal the divergence of opinions about the America First strategies that have caused debate across the aisle. Representative Madeleine Dean (D-PA) stated that she believes “we are going backwards” and “losing our moral standing.”

Rubio remained steadfast in defending the Agenda, saying that “the number of puppet shows and all these other stupid things that we’re spending money on is going to be zero.”

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