Earlier this year, the Trump administration, in a move to streamline government, dismantled USAID: the agency that financially supported a variety of humanitarian initiatives around the world.

Researchers are now projecting millions could die worldwide if that foreign aid isn’t restored within several years.

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“It doesn’t make any sense. It’s just not right," said Asher Moss, Executive Director of the Alliance for American Leadership.

Moss decided to form the Alliance for American Leadership: a bipartisan, nonprofit pushing policymakers to resume foreign assistance.

“It’s spending less than 1% of our budget to provide public health, education, governance, antipoverty programs across the world that not only save millions of lives but also make America respected," Moss said.

This coalition, along with advocacy, is also endorsing congressional candidates. Their first, Virginia 11th Congressional District democratic candidate James Walkinshaw, who worked on Capitol Hill for years for that district’s long-time Member of Congress, Gerry Connolly.

Walkinshaw believes the nation has a moral obligation to support those suffering on foreign soil.

“It helps to contain disease outbreaks before they reach American shores and, most importantly, I would say, projects the best of who we are as Americans," said Walkinshaw during A4AL's endorsement announcement.

During a recent forum, Walkinshaw’s Republican opponent, Stewart Whitson, a combat veteran and former FBI special agent, believes restoring fiscal sanity to Washington comes first.

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“So, sometimes we have zeal when anything is happening in another part of the globe that we want to go there and help and that’s not a bad thing, that instinct to do that. That’s actually a good thing. That makes us great people. That makes us Americans. But, as elected leaders, we have to come in and be responsible and think long term and not get driven by emotion and stop and say, 'Wait, is this in America’s best interest,'" Whitson said.

“The root of inefficiency in government is that it tries to do too much, and that has always been the problem," Alex Nowrasteh with the Cato Institute said.

Nowrasteh isn’t convinced that investing billions of dollars abroad serves American purposes.

“The fact that Donald Trump can shut it down at the stroke of a pen means that it was always vulnerable, it will always be vulnerable going forward but it’s much less vulnerable if it’s run by private organizations, which it should be," Nowrasteh said.

Regardless of whether Walkinshaw or Whitson comes out on top in VA-11, the Alliance for American Leadership plans on endorsing both Democrats and Republicans leading into the 2026 midterms.

“I think it’s about bringing people together that might not see eye to eye on every issue but do believe that America should be leading on the world stage and that these foreign aid programs are essential in order to do that," Moss said.