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Ending USAID could harm Millions around the World [1]

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Date: 2025-02-03

Drumphf has allowed Elon Musk to essentially shut down the functioning of USAID.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that he had taken over as acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, assuming control of an agency that had functioned largely independently for over 60 years and stoking fears about U.S. assistance around the world. Mr. Rubio’s announcement came after a week of drastic changes at U.S.A.I.D., the government’s lead agency for humanitarian aid and development assistance. Senior officials have been suspended, and hundreds of civil servants and contractors have been iced out of U.S.A.I.D. systems without warning. Many of the cuts were rolled out in secret and without warning, as representatives of Elon Musk, who was deputized by President Trump to lead a task force to reduce government spending, took over its operations despite objections from aid workers and Democrats in Congress. Speaking to reporters in El Salvador, Mr. Rubio said that many of U.S.A.I.D.’s programs were worthwhile and would continue under the umbrella of the State Department, promising to delegate the day-to-day operations to a person whom he did not name. He added that the organizational change was prompted by what he described as efforts by U.S.A.I.D. officials to obscure details about their work and failure to cooperate with reasonable questions from the Trump administration. Mr. Rubio accused U.S.A.I.D. employees of “deciding that they’re somehow a global charity separate from the national interest or taxpayer dollars.” He added, “That sort of level of insubordination makes it impossible to conduct a sort of mature and serious review.” Mr. Rubio’s criticism of U.S.A.I.D., the government’s main agency for distributing foreign humanitarian aid and development assistance, was still markedly softer than that of Mr. Musk, who has accused the agency of being a “criminal organization.” Early Monday morning he said that he and Mr. Trump had decided it was time to dissolve it. “We’re shutting it down,” Mr. Musk said during a live chat on X, his social media platform, later adding in a post that “we spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper.” On Sunday, Mr. Trump said U.S.A.I.D. was “run by radical lunatics” and promised to remove them.

USAID is not an “independent” organization. they receive their spending authorities and priorities from Congress, and focus an many priorities of American foreign policy. Many people’s lives depend on their continued support.

This has Senator. Andy Kim hopping Mad.

"About 20 years ago, when I first came to work for the federal government, I walked through these doors right behind me," Kim told reporters after trying to get into the building on Monday. "It was really tough today walking through these same doors 20-some years later only to see it shut down to employees." Kim said he received calls "all weekend long" from USAID employees who had been told not to show up for work. "In fact, I went inside trying to speak to the acting administrator, [Jason] Gray," he explained. "Unfortunately, I was not able to meet with him, and I'm going to continue to try today to be able to meet with the acting administrator because I want to hear straight from him... You know, you have mysterious people within this new administration sending out emails across the entirety of USAID telling them not to show up." "I talked to the security guard just in there. He said he has been given specific orders to prevent employees of USAID from entering the building today, and I just find that to be absolutely ridiculous. You know this is no way to govern. This is no way to treat public servants," the senator continued. "Well, I certainly hope Congress takes action because what is happening here is illegal," he added.

Senator Brian Schatz has promised to put a hold on all Trump's nominees until USAID is restored.

Now, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) — who voted for Rubio but against Hegseth — is, according to the Wall Street Journal's Alexander Ward, saying that he will place a "blanket hold" on Trump's State Department nominees unless his administration ceases its attacks on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Ward, in an article published on February 3, explains, "Schatz's threat came as Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency aims to close the U.S. Agency for International Development; the agency's existence as an independent government organization is codified in federal law. Over the weekend, DOGE staffers forced their way into USAID's headquarters in Washington, gaining access to classified information and closing the building to employees on Monday."

This is how the President of Oxfam America has reacted.

“Dismantling USAID would be a callous, destructive political power play that would have deadly consequences for millions of people living in dire humanitarian emergencies and extreme poverty. Any attempt by President Trump to dissolve or merge USAID with the State Department would be legally dubious and must be swiftly challenged in court. "This move would mean that while US foreign assistance could continue in some form, President Trump would be recklessly throwing away USAID’s critical experience and strategic focus on saving lives, building resilient communities, and forging a better collective future. If reports prove true, we would expect to see less impact and less accountability to the American people. It would be cruel, intentionally harmful and directly at odds with US interests. “USAID was established in 1961 as an independent agency to advance US foreign policy and American values – to foster prosperity and save lives around the globe. It has brought lifesaving medicines, food, clean water, assistance for farmers, kept women and girls safe, promoted peace, and so much more over decades, all for less than one percent of our federal budget. Ending USAID as we know it would undo hard-earned gains in the fight against poverty and humanitarian crisis, and cause long-term, irreparable harm. Now, Congress must take a stand against this destructive and unlawful action. "Over the past week, we have already witnessed the life-threatening, wide-ranging impacts of a temporary disruption to US foreign assistance. This action would expand those disruptions exponentially by punishing the people who are already suffering the most, undermining US credibility and interests, and halting decades of progress toward a safer, more equal world."

This is no joke, there are malaria programs, HIV programs and many other desperately needed humanitarian programs that are directly supported by USAID — but by disrupting these services Drumphf has put the lives of Millions at risk internationally.

So far he’s done a lot of harm, but this just could be the worst in terms of damage to human lives.

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