Samantha Power’s tenure as head of USAID was just the latest chapter in a meteoric rise that defies traditional foreign policy credentials.

A former journalist with no formal diplomatic or military background, she ascended rapidly—first as a senior adviser to Barack Obama, then as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and ultimately as the head of an agency handling billions in taxpayer dollars.

Power encountered remarkably little resistance, unlike others with deep military and policy experience who faced relentless scrutiny upon appointment by a president of another political party.

Compare Power’s rise with Trump-era appointees like Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard, who saw their backgrounds dissected and their integrity questioned.

• Hegseth, an Army veteran and Fox News contributor, and like Power, an author, faced intense opposition when considered for Secretary of Defense. Critics dismissed his qualifications, pointing out that he was not an Army general officer—unlike Biden’s pick—despite his combat experience and deep engagement in military affairs.
• Gabbard, a combat veteran and former congresswoman, endured relentless attacks for challenging the establishment’s foreign policy orthodoxy. Legacy media, ably assisted by one Hillary Rodham Clinton, smeared her as a “Russian asset” simply for questioning the wisdom of perpetual U.S. interventions.

Yet Samantha Power—whose early credentials came from reporting on the Yugoslav War and Rwanda as a freelance journalist—faced no such obstacles as she climbed Washington’s foreign policy ladder.

She had never worn a uniform, nor had she held elected office. But her seamless alignment with the Obama-Clinton-Soros foreign policy wing insulated her from the scrutiny and roadblocks that often block outsiders and conservatives.

USAID Under Power: A Record of Waste, Corruption, and Ideological Activism

Under Power’s leadership, USAID became a global funding pipeline for left-wing activism, championing ideological projects that often had little to do with legitimate humanitarian aid.

Some of the most egregious abuses under her watch include:

• Millions funneled into gender ideology campaigns in Latin America, including taxpayer-funded “gender-affirming” procedures.
• Over $40 million was directed to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, despite Dr. Anthony Fauci publicly claiming that U.S. funding to the lab totaled only $600,000. The full scope of taxpayer funding to China’s most controversial virology facility remains deliberately obscured.
• Tens of millions in grants to universities in Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon, including the American University of Beirut (AUB), which previously settled a U.S. counterterrorism lawsuit over its support for Hezbollah-affiliated entities.
• Funding for Internews, a shadowy media organization accused of pushing government-approved narratives under the guise of “combating misinformation.” Internews has been linked to Soros-backed initiatives and the Clinton Global Initiative, raising further concerns about its role in shaping domestic and foreign media narratives.
• Covert regime-change operations in Cuba, allegedly using an HIV prevention program as cover. If Power operated without explicit presidential authorization, this raises serious concerns about rogue foreign policy activities within USAID. If Obama did approve it, he directly contradicted his administration’s stated goal of normalizing relations with Cuba.

Power’s Legacy: The Untouchable Insider of the Globalist Elite

With Congress, the DOJ, and the Trump administration now scrutinizing USAID’s finances, Power’s leadership—and the decisions made under her watch—demand urgent accountability.

How did she rise so quickly through Washington’s foreign policy ranks despite failing to achieve a single consequential success? Why was she never subjected to the same scrutiny as Trump-era appointees?

The answer lies in her connections and convictions. Power was never an outsider—she was an entrenched member of the Obama-Biden foreign policy machine, operating within the same globalist circles that championed disastrous interventions, endless wars, ideological aid initiatives, and backchannel foreign influence campaigns.

Yet the double standard in how the political establishment and legacy media evaluate appointees is striking. While figures like Hegseth and Gabbard faced relentless opposition, Power’s credentials were never meaningfully challenged.

As USAID’s financial abuses and ideological excesses finally come under the microscope, Power’s role in these scandals will not—and should not—fade into the background.

The only remaining question is whether she will be held accountable or whether the Washington establishment will once again protect its own.

Charlton Allen is an attorney, former chief executive officer, and chief judicial officer of the North Carolina Industrial Commission. He is the founder of the Madison Center for Law & Liberty, Inc., editor of The American Salient, and the host of the Modern Federalist podcast. X: @CharltonAllenNC

Image: Public domain.