The newly created US Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE has been auditing several government agencies in the US and cutting wasteful expenditure. DOGE posted on February 16 that they had identified and cut "$486M to the "Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening," including $22M for "inclusive and participatory political process" in Moldova and $21M for voter turnout in India."
US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all which have been cancelled:
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 15, 2025
- $10M for "Mozambique voluntary medical male circumcision"
- $9.7M for UC Berkeley to develop "a cohort of Cambodian youth with enterprise driven skills"
- $2.3M for "strengthening...
NDTV dug into the data and followed the trail of money. All data has been sourced from US government sites, from Income Tax returns and the websites of the NGOs involved in funneling money to India for "voter turnout".
Before we get into the details, let's look at why this is significant.
The Biden administration has been under fire since Donald Trump took over as President in January. President Trump has alleged large-scale corruption in the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 7, 2025
Vice President JD Vance hinted at the Biden administration's interference in regime change operations in Europe while speaking at the Munich Security Conference on February 14.
"The threat that I worry about the most vis-a-vis Europe, it's not Russia, it's not China, it's not any other external actor. And what I worry about is the threat from within. The retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America. I was struck that a former European Commissioner went on television recently and sounded delighted that the Romanian government (sic) had just annulled an entire election. He warned that if things don't go to plan, the very same thing could happen in Germany too. Now these cavalier statements are shocking to American ears. For years we've been told that everything we fund and support is in the name of our shared democratic values. Everything from our Ukraine policy to digital censorship is billed as a defence of democracy. But when we see European courts cancelling elections, and seen your officials threatening to cancel others, we have to ask whether we are holding ourselves to an appropriately high standard. And I say ourselves, because I fundamentally believe that we are on the same team. We must do more than talk about democratic values. We must live them."
It is in this backdrop that this development assumes significance.
The question that arises, once we delve into the data, is why the Biden administration funneled so much money via USAID and other departments to NGOs that worked in foreign countries. Was it for regime change operations? If so, were they hoping to do the same in India ahead of the 2024 elections?
How The Money Was Funneled
The route by which money was funneled from USAID to other countries via NGOs
A lot more than $21 million was funneled through the same route since 2008. Data available with the US government website, www.usaspending.gov, shows that USAID paid the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS) a whopping $3.7 billion from fiscal 2008 to 2025.
![Credit: www.usaspending.gov]](https://c.ndtvimg.com/2025-02/0k4fspv_cepps-funding_625x300_17_February_25.png "Credit: www.usaspending.gov]")
Credit: www.usaspending.gov
CEPPS' website is offline now. But a perusal of the 2023 financial statement of its partner NGO, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), provides details about how the Consortium worked.
Source: CEPPS 2023 Financial Statement available on the NGO's website
So money was funneled from USAID to CEPPS, a consortium of three large NGOs that work towards “strengthening democracy through partnership,” “making democracies resilient,” “advancing democracy worldwide is about empowering individuals on a personal level” and “strengthening democratic institutions worldwide.”
These NGOs in turn partnered with NGOs and other organisations across the world and further funneled money into these countries.
At NDTV, we had earlier reported on how the IRI had been funded by the USAID to “destabilize Bangladesh politics.”
This brings us to the question - was the $21 million funding canceled by DOGE was for regime change operations in India.
The India Trail
It is from the IFES and the NDI that a large portion of the funding for India appears to have come.
The website of the NGO shows that it partners with another NGO - Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) which actively works in the Indian subcontinent.
NDTV perused the financial statements and annual reports of the IFES and found multiple transfers for projects in India. However, the details of these projects are not immediately clear.
The BJP has picked up an MOU signed between IFES and the ECI and alleged that then Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi is involved with this controversy.
Once again, it is George Soros, a known associate of the Congress party and the Gandhis, whose shadow looms over our electoral process.
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) February 16, 2025
In 2012, under the leadership of S.Y. Quraishi, the Election Commission signed an MoU with The International Foundation for Electoral... https://t.co/PO13Iyroee pic.twitter.com/gdgAQoDbPh
Quraishi, however, provided a response to PTI which is reproduced here in full -
"The report in a section of Media about an MoU by ECI in 2012 when I was CEC, for funding of certain million dollars by a US agency for raising voter turnout in India does not have an iota of fact.
Yes, there was a MOU with IFES in 2012 when I was CEC like we had with many other agencies and Election Management Bodies to facilitate training for desirous countries at ECI 's training and resource centre, IIIDEM, which was very new at that stage. There was no financing or even promise of finance involved in MoU, forget X or Y amount. The MoU in fact made it clear in black and white that there would be no financial and legal obligation of any kind on either side. This stipulation was made at two different places to leave no scope for any ambiguity. Any mention of any funds in connection with this MoU is completely false and malicious," said Quraishi's statement.
NDI has on its website, a distorted map of India which shows Kashmir as not being part of India.
It also has on its Board, a number of former USAID employees as well as former Ambassadors and people who have worked closely with the spy agency CIA.
Bangkok-based ANFREL, which receives funding from NDI, continues to move the money forward to a host of Asian nations, including to India.
ANFREL's "missions" in countries like Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Afghanistan, Timor Leste and Nepal, among others, have been active with election related activities.
It is now upon the Indian authorities to probe into these agencies and Indian entities associated with them to find out the complete truth.
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