Three House Republicans accuse State Department of misusing taxpayer funds to promote atheism abroad

WASHINGTON, DC: On Wednesday, May 22, House Republicans accused the State Department of participating in a "pattern of obfuscation and denial" by using taxpayer funds to promote atheism abroad.

In question is a $500,000 grant that was requested in April 2021 by the department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor and ultimately given to Humanists International (HI), an organization that advocates for humanism; an ideology that rejects belief in god, the paranormal, an afterlife, or a superior source of moral principles, per the New York Post.

For years, the State Department denied that any efforts were being made to recruit people for the humanist cause, instead claiming that the grant money was being used to support religious freedom programs and to promote tolerance toward religious minority populations overseas.

It wasn't until last month that the government agency acknowledged possible misappropriation of taxpayer funds. The PowerPoint slide deck that the agency sent congressional investigators was allegedly being used by HI in programming in Nepal, but the State Department later admitted that the slides "were not the actual slides provided at the trainings."

Who are the GOP representatives who wrote to the State Department?

Reps Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Chris Smith (R-NJ), and Brian Mast (R-Fla) wrote in a letter sent to State Department Deputy Secretary Richard Verma, “We write to address what the Department has now acknowledged were its misrepresentations made to Congress about the scope and nature of programming that – for the first time in US diplomatic history – has sought to promote atheism overseas under the guise of ‘religious freedom.’”

The Republicans contended that in order to "expand atheist networks abroad in violation of the US Constitution's Establishment Clause," the State Department had deceived Congress.

“Indeed, following 15 months of our calling attention to this issue, it was not until April 29, 2024 that the Department finally expressed ‘deep concern’ with the programing, and stated that it will ‘pursue appropriate accountability measures,’” McCaul, Smith, and Mast stated.

“It is hard to believe Department officials refused to read the words right in front of them, but we are not sure what else may have happened,” they continued, pointing out that the program's approved State Department text asked participants to “conduct advocacy and membership activities promoting humanism” and to “increase and diversify their membership network.”

Was the grant used to promote atheism abroad?

The letter cited Verma's March congressional testimony in which he stated, “I have looked at the materials. [Promoting atheism] is not what the grant is for and that is not what the work would be for.”

“We would never authorize such a grant,” the Biden administration official claimed. “I have seen no evidence of any grant to promote atheism in Nepal.”

Congressional investigators identified constitutional violations after obtaining slides used in HI presentations in Nepal that differed from those previously submitted to Congress by the State Department.

“The contents of the slides provided at the trainings, presently in the Committee’s possession, are damning,” the House Republicans wrote. 

“To be sure, despite all of the evasions by the Department, it is now plain that the grant promoted atheism and expanded atheist networks abroad, while neglecting Christian and Muslim minorities who, unlike atheists and humanists, face real persecution in the relevant parts of South Asia,” they added.

“Indeed, the programming was designed to recruit new members of the grantee organization in violation of the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution,” they asserted.

The three House Republicans wrapped up their letter by saying they are "skeptical" about the State Department's claims that it would "take immediate action" and "recoup misused funds," but they also insisted that Verma report to Congress on the agency's future corrective actions.