Trump Calls for Abolition of USAID
This reckless policy would undermine America's ability to build relations on the world stage and let innocent people die.
The current state of the American government is far from acceptable. Earlier this week, CNN reported that the Trump administration seeks to dismantle the Department of Education. However, Trump also seeks to officially eliminate the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The move, which President Trump announced on Friday, would be disastrous for the American position on the world stage and would hurt millions of innocent people.
What did Trump Say?
While the Trump administration has made multiple attempts to portray USAID as wasteful, including through a ridiculously misleading and inaccurate statement on USAID funding, had yet to call for the end of USAID officially. However, on Friday, the president posted on Truth Social saying “CLOSE IT DOWN,” referring to the agency.
Such blatant calls for a government agency to be shut down come amid a larger push from the Trump administration to put many of USAID’s employees on indefinite leave. As The New York Times’ Karoun Demirjian explains:
Mr. Trump’s demand to end the agency came as the vast majority of the agency’s direct hires were expecting to be placed on indefinite administrative leave, while contractors were to be let go. The notice announcing that change, which was posted to the U.S.A.I.D. website on Tuesday, also informed foreign service officers that the agency would pay for them to return home within 30 days, with extensions offered on a case-by-case basis.
That guidance was amended overnight to inform workers that they had the option of staying abroad longer at their own expense.
A new frequently asked questions section, with just one entry, was appended to the original notice on U.S.A.I.D.’s website, explaining that foreign service officers could remain overseas if they were willing to cover the cost of travel themselves. It did not specify whether workers who stayed overseas while on administrative leave would continue to have their cost of living subsidized.
The original instructions had set off a panic, as foreign service officers wondered how they would be able to uproot their lives and their families in a matter of weeks. But the clarification that they could stay abroad, provided that they paid for their own return, came as little comfort to aid workers facing the loss of their jobs.
Only a small subset of U.S.A.I.D. officials received notice this week that they had been deemed “essential” personnel.
“This your formal notification that you are expected to keep working, effective immediately, and until notified otherwise,” the emailed notification sent to those personnel said, according to a copy reviewed by The New York Times.
While a federal judge has temporarily blocked the leave order, it remains clear that the Trump administration has no interest in keeping the organization, regardless of whether it will serve the public.
What is USAID?
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), established by Congress under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, assists and organizes the distribution of foreign aid overseas. According to the Congressional Research Service, USAID’s total budget for 2023 was roughly $43.6 billion, or less than 1 percent of the total annual budget, which was $6.1 trillion.
The aid we send overseas assists with critical humanitarian works that save millions of people worldwide and buys influence on the world stage. Since it was established under President John F. Kennedy, USAID has been central to eradicating smallpox and fighting polio and AIDS. One estimate suggests that the U.S. provides “about 70% of all funding for HIV and AIDS globally.”
Christine Sterling, a deputy executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), warned that if Trump ended all aid to HIV and AIDS prevention, more than 6 million people could die due to related diseases by 2029.
Keep USAID
USAID saves lives and puts America in a position to protect itself without firing a single shot. This shouldn't be an issue for our government, but apparently, the idea of turning potential enemies into friends by being decent is a foreign concept to them.
As much as Elon, Trump, and all these austerity-loving oligarchs want to talk about waste, USAID is a critical component of American humanitarian and political work on the world stage. If we want to ensure that America remains respected, we can’t withdraw from the world and withdraw our support for humanitarian efforts. Anything less is a moral and political failure.
