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“The U.S. Agency for International Development’s director of security and his deputy were placed on administrative leave Saturday after they tried to prevent employees from the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing secure USAID systems, five sources familiar with the events told NBC News…
“The USAID systems the DOGE team tried to access included personnel files and security systems, including classified systems beyond the security level of at least some of the DOGE employees, according to three of the sources. The systems also included security clearance information for agency employees, two of the sources said…
“‘No classified material was accessed without proper security clearances,’ Katie Miller, who worked in President Donald Trump's first administration and has since joined DOGE, said Sunday on X.” NBC News
“The Trump administration reportedly intends to merge the US government's main overseas aid agency with the state department, as workers were asked to stay out of its Washington headquarters. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters he was now the acting head of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the agency that distributes billions of dollars in aid around the world… Global aid was upended in a matter of days late last month, after President Trump froze all foreign assistance provided by the US on his return to the White House.” BBC
The left is critical of pausing foreign aid, noting that it meets urgent humanitarian needs.
“Foreign aid is only about 1 percent of the federal budget… [but] supports thousands of programs across 204 countries. It provides lifesaving drugs for millions of people afflicted with HIV/AIDS and malaria. It purifies drinking water, helps rid former war zones of leftover land mines, and trains local police to combat human trafficking and the illegal wildlife trade…
“Helping eradicate poverty and promote democracy generates goodwill that makes the United States stronger. Combating life-threatening pathogens and removing the causes of economic and social instability make the world safer. Expanding global prosperity creates new markets for American products… An expression of soft power, [foreign aid] provides more bang for the buck than almost any other budget item.”
Editorial Board, Washington Post
“[In 2023 the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) program] provided 36.8 million insecticidal bednets and 48 million doses of seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC), a pill-based method for preventing malaria… [A] recent analysis finds that, while impacts vary across countries, a child’s life is saved for roughly every 1,400 bednets distributed…
“[Similarly] it seems to take about 2,000 doses of SMC to save a life. That implies that the 48 million doses funded by PMI saved about 24,000 lives. PMI is just a small part of the global health bureau at USAID, which is itself only one part of the agency’s work — but even this small part is likely saving 50,000 lives or more every single year…
“Are there USAID programs that are relatively less effective, or wasteful? Almost certainly. That’s why the agency has an inspector general and the Government Accountability Office to audit it and point out where it’s falling short. What Musk and Trump are doing to USAID isn’t a reasonable audit. They’re doing a slash-and-burn attack that is certain to destroy programs that have saved millions of lives.”
Dylan Matthews, Vox
Some argue, “An Inspector General report issued this week points out that the United States has spent nearly $3.71 billion on [Afghanistan] since the Biden administration withdrawal in 2021… The IG found that U.S. assistance ‘has not dissuaded the Taliban from taking U.S. citizens hostage, dismantling the rights of women and girls, censoring the media, allowing the country to become a terrorist safe haven, and targeting former Afghan government officials.’…
“When the IG asked the State Department whether such funding had done anything to improve the human rights situation, the Department said simply that ‘we use every opportunity to press the Taliban on our human rights concerns.’ How compelling! Instead of debating any of this, the Democratic leaders at yesterday’s protest busied themselves with process questions.”
Ken Klippenstein, Substack
The right argues that USAID needs to be drastically reformed.
The right argues that USAID needs to be drastically reformed.
“All but 3% of political donations from USAID employees went to the Democratic Party, and the agency has, for decades, been plundered to finance every conceivable work of left-wing propaganda… Guatemalan transgender organizations scooped $2 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development… Advancing DEI in Serbian workplaces was financed with $1.5 million, and $47,000 was found for a transgender opera in Colombia…
“USAID spread wokery to all corners of the globe, persuading the rest of the world that America represents a corpus of ideas and values that are, if truth be told, repellent to the majority of Americans as much as they are alien to overseas peoples on whom the money is spent. To acknowledge that is not to suggest all USAID work is worthless. It is not. But much of it is. And it is right that Rubio should sift through payments, save only what is right, and zero out what is left. Aid must, as he said, ‘be aligned with American foreign policy.’”
Hugo Gurdon, Washington Examiner
“There are benefits to being able to deliver aid to potential international partners and to promote American values abroad. But the current iteration of USAID isn’t really doing that. Instead, it’s operating like a rogue agency, furthering a left-wing ideological project… The State Department was funding ‘culture grants’ to promote drag queen performances in Ecuador. Meanwhile, China was investing heavily in the country’s copper mining production…
“Proponents of USAID often say that the agency is necessary to counter the influence of China, but how are we doing ourselves any favors when China is spending money on economic and resources development and we are spending money and delivering lectures about transgenderism? Perhaps most damning of all, USAID has funneled money to Chinese organizations working on coronavirus research, including the infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology.”
Jarrett Stepman, Daily Signal
Furthermore, “Some USAID spending may undermine U.S. interests. An analysis by the Middle East Forum says $164 million of USAID money has supported radical organizations around the world, and $122 million of that aid was going to groups aligned with foreign terrorist organizations. According to the report, USAID has given millions of dollars to ‘organizations directly in Gaza controlled by Hamas’ and that recipients of the money have ‘called for their lands to be ‘cleansed’ from the ‘impurity of the Jews.’’…
“The Middle East Forum notes that money also often flows to anti-American groups through intermediary recipients that fail to vet local partners. This sounds like an agency that needs a house-cleaning and maybe a reduction in what it does so it can focus on the most important. That’s what Secretary of State Marco Rubio now says he plans to do, rather than shutting the agency down.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
