DHS reportedly spent congressional funds meant to counter China on America250, FIFA World Cup

The Department of Homeland Security used anti-China funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on security for FIFA World Cup matches and other events, Punchbowl News first reported Friday.

The OBBB Act had set aside $170 million in funding for initiatives aiming to combat potential national security threats from China’s illegal fishing operations globally, according to Punchbowl News. However, an anonymous senior congressional official and an unnamed Trump administration official told the outlet that DHS had instead disbursed most of that funding toward security for World Cup matches, America’s 250th anniversary festivities and other major U.S. sporting events.

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz notched the $170 million in the OBBB Act for “maritime domain awareness” technology programs that can be utilized to track Chinese vessels, Punchbowl News reported. Cruz told the outlet that he has “sought to provide resources for those programs, but unfortunately the bulk of the funding has not gone where it needed to go.”

DHS did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

The funding allocation took place under the leadership of former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, according to Punchbowl News.

Approximately $155 million of the $170 million anti-China funds was shelled out for counter-drone technology for events such as World Cup matches and America250 events, while the remainder of the funding went towards Coast Guard communications technology and a Merchant Marine credentialing system, the sources told Punchbowl News.

A bipartisan coalition of senators led by Cruz sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday urging the Administration to counter “illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU)” Chinese fishing.

“Anyone linked to the vessels, including through beneficial ownership, will be exposed to reputational and financial crime risks,” according to the letter. “The vessels would switch from being assets to liabilities, greatly complicating the ability of the CCP to continue their IUU fishing activities.”

A January report by the House Select Committee on the CCP alleged that China “commands the world’s largest distant-water fishing (DWF) fleet—estimated to include upwards of 16,000 vessels—and uses it to intimidate other countries, control the world’s food supply, and decimate fisheries around the world.”

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