The United States Agency for International Development was created by president John F. Kennedy in 1961 to coordinate federal foreign aid. It operates under the guidance of the president, secretary of state, and the National Security Council. Its budget is approved by Congress.
During the
Cold War, foreign aid was a key strategy to combat Soviet influence in other
countries of the world.
Every
president from Eisenhower on, Republican or Democrat, has been supportive of
foreign aid – until Donald Trump. Even as recently as last year it has received
strong bi-partisan support. In June 2024 an amendment to eliminate foreign
assistance from the 2025 budget was rejected by 80% of the Republican-led House
of Representatives.
In dollar
value America spends more money on foreign aid (nearly $40 b) than any other
country, but as a % of national income (less than 1%) it’s at the bottom of the
list of wealthy countries.
The
countries receiving the most aid from USAID in 2023 were: Ukraine, Ethiopia,
Jordan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria,
South Sudan and Syria. There are aid programs in 100 countries around the
world. The programs include aid to refugees, fighting infectious disease
outbreaks, disaster relief, women’s health, clean water, and much, much, more.
It feeds starving children and provides treatment to AIDS patients, keeping
them alive.
One of the
programs funded through USAID is PEPFAR, created by President George W Bush in
2003 to combat AIDS worldwide. This has been a hugely successful program
currently treating 20 million people with AIDS and has prevented millions of
babies and adults from getting it.
On Monday the
brand new Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he is taking over as acting
director of USAID. Employees were told not to come to work that day. Then Tuesday
a group of young men (ages 18-24) on behalf of Elon Musk’s “Department of Government
Efficiency” (DOGE) forced their way into the USAID building and took over the
department. They locked out all employees and also refused to allow Democratic
lawmakers into the building. All funds have been frozen except, apparently, for
programs in Israel and Egypt.
Moving
USAID into the State Department destroys its independence and gives Trump and
Musk direct control over what programs get funded. Their stated aim is to shut
it down completely.
This is bad
news not only for the poor people depending on the aid but also for America. Besides
being the right thing to do, foreign aid helps America in two ways. 1) It catches
and stops contagious diseases in the country of origin before they can spread turn
into pandemics. And 2) it prevents Russia and China from increasing their
influence in countries in Africa, Central and South America, and in the Pacific.
Both of these countries are delighted with Trump’s move to shut down USAID.
Senator
Brian Schatz of Hawaii put it well. “There is a reason that USAID is an arm of
American foreign policy, and it is because we understand that a stable world means
a stable America.”
Tomorrow I’ll
discuss the legality of this and other actions of the Trump regime and how it’s
all leading to a constitutional crisis.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-musk-doge-government-concerns-1.7448728
https://apnews.com/article/trump-musk-usaid-c0c7799be0b2fa7cad4c806565985fe2
Trump and Musk are both batshit crazy and out for revenge. Musk is a South African white ssupremacist who hates USAID for helping over throw apartheid.
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