Chris Van Hollen Asks Trump State Nom: Is ‘US Support For The World Food Program An Important Priority?’

4/9/2025

During Wednesday’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) questioned Under Secretary of State Nominee Allison Hooker about support to the World Food Program.

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Transcript

00:00The opportunity to work with her in previous administrations, and I can tell you, we are well served by her service to America.

00:06Her knowledge and her ability in negotiations that have taken place, serious negotiations over the years, have been nothing short of outstanding.

00:16So, thank you so much. Thank you for your service.

00:18Senator Van Hollen.

00:20Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Congratulations to all of you on your nominations.

00:24And, Ms. Hooker, it was great to meet with you yesterday in my office.

00:29And, again, thank you for all your prior service, including, as I mentioned yesterday, at the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the State Department,

00:37which I think is an organization that punches above its weight in the U.S. intelligence community.

00:44Do you agree that U.S. support for the World Food Program is an important American priority?

00:52Thank you, Senator.

00:53And thank you for your time yesterday and for sharing your family's legacy and serving the American people.

01:00Thank you for their service and for yours, sir.

01:02As we talked about yesterday and as we've discussed a little bit today, the administration, President Trump, and Secretary Rubio have undertaken a very comprehensive review.

01:13Ms. Hooker, I'm sorry.

01:14So, I only have five minutes.

01:16It was a very simple question.

01:17Yes.

01:17Do you agree that U.S. support for the World Food Program is an important priority?

01:24It's just a simple yes or no question.

01:26Well, Senator, thank you for that question.

01:29And I agree that the American people's tax dollars should be used to support things that are in America's interest and in our national security.

01:40Do you think supporting the World Food Program is in our interest, in our national security interest?

01:45Thank you, Senator, for the follow-up and for the clarification.

01:49I am not privy to the details of the review that is underway.

01:53I, if confirmed, I expect to be.

01:58And if confirmed, I look forward to working with this committee on those details.

02:02Well, we had a little good news since last night, right, because the Elon Musk person who's been embedded over at the State Department said, whoopsie, made a big mistake, right?

02:18Yesterday, Mr. Chairman, I don't know how close you're following this, but the United States essentially canceled its support for a whole slew of World Food Program programs.

02:27And that World Food Program, you know, rightly said, this will be a death sentence for millions of people, which it would be.

02:35And so apparently there was at least a partial reversal.

02:42Here's, and I'm quoting from Jeremy Lewin, who is the Musk sort of implant at the State Department, quote,

02:50Sorry for all the back and forth on awards.

02:54There are a lot of stakeholders, and we need to do better about balancing these competing interests.

02:59That's my fault, and I take responsibility, unquote.

03:02This is just a symptom of a much larger problem, which is that Elon Musk said that AID was a criminal enterprise.

03:13By the way, do you agree that AID is a criminal enterprise?

03:17Senator, thank you for that question.

03:18And I look forward to being in the seat and being able to have a conversation across the board.

03:24These are really simple questions.

03:27I mean, as I've said before, if AID is a criminal enterprise, the chairman and every member of this committee is a co-conspirator because we've all supported AID.

03:36Let me move on because in addition to dismantling AID, which I believe has been done in an illegal fashion,

03:46because it is a congressionally, not just authorized in terms of funding, but established in statute.

03:54It was first established as an EEO, but then it was created in statute.

03:58So yesterday, all the Democrats on the committee wrote to Secretary Rubio expressing our concerns about that and asking questions about reports of the upcoming restructuring.

04:12Mr. Chairman, I just asked you to ask consent to put this in the record.

04:16So we lay out our concerns with what's happening at AID.

04:20And by the way, and with respect, Mr. Chairman, I really do think we need a hearing on this, right?

04:26Ranking Member Shaheen has held two rump hearings.

04:28We're going to have the secretary in here pretty quick.

04:30All right.

04:30You'll have your writing.

04:31She's had two rump hearings, and one of the things people would know if they were attending those hearings,

04:37that when Elon Musk was at the White House and he said, whoops, he canceled the Ebola program temporarily.

04:44Ms. Hooker, did you see that video at the White House of Elon Musk?

04:50I'm aware of it, sir, but I didn't watch the video.

04:51So he said, whoops, kind of like this guy, you know, Jeremy, whoops, I just canceled the World Food Program.

04:57But it turned out to be false in the case of Elon Musk's claim because Nick Enrich, who's now on administrative leave,

05:06testified that, in fact, the Ebola program has not been restored.

05:11But here's my question to you.

05:13I'm hearing from people in the State Department who believe they're being asked to make statements that they believe are factually incorrect.

05:21In some cases, people may be making legal determinations, which they think are wrong, but under threat of being fired.

05:29I have a very simple question.

05:31If somebody asks you to do something you believe is illegal, would you resign?

05:38Thank you, Senator, for that question.

05:40Well, I've committed in my opening statement to following the Constitution, and I add to that all applicable law, and I intend to do so.

05:51If I'm confirmed, I look forward to working with this committee on all of these issues and all the concerns that you raised today, and I commit to do that.

06:01And, Mr. Chairman, as you know, in addition to what happened at AID, there's this major restructuring going on.

06:06And I just hope that this committee will, you know, uphold its responsibilities and require the administration to report and consult with us in the process.