Deplorable and Disgusting:
The Trump administration on Friday moved to formally collapse the U.S. Agency for International Development, notifying remaining employees that their positions will be eliminated and that residual functions will be folded into the State Department.
The decision to unilaterally shut down an agency established by Congress is expected to draw immediate legal challenges. The administration told Congress of its intention at noon, about 10 minutes before employees were notified, according to a White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal government communications.
“Unfortunately, USAID strayed from its original mission long ago,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “Thanks to President Trump, this misguided and fiscally irresponsible era is now over.”
The move is an escalation of President Donald Trump’s campaign against the agency responsible for administering foreign aid and development assistance around the globe. That function of the government is seen by some as core to American values but is one the president has described as a “tremendous fraud” and waste of taxpayer dollars. The change, news of which was delivered in an email to staff midday Friday, is also in line with his administration’s strategy of bulldozing through precedent to exact its vision — acting quickly to create changes that may be practically hard to reverse.
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The State Department will administer USAID’s “remaining lifesaving and strategic aid programming,” Jeremy Lewin, the agency’s new chief operating officer, said in an email to staff. It was not immediately clear which programs would survive the planned collapse.
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A former USAID official derided the administration for moving to shut down the agency on the same day that a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar and Thailand, killing at least 144 people.
“We literally built the global system that coordinates international search-and-rescue deployments after earthquakes,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, a former senior USAID official who now leads Refugees International, a nonprofit that advocates for refugees and displaced people. “Now, the very day of the worst major quake in two years, the U.S. is firing its disaster responders rather than deploying them.”
Trump, asked about Myanmar at a swearing-in ceremony Friday, said: “We’re going to be helping. I’ve already alerted the people. Yeah. It’s terrible what’s happened. … We’ve already spoken with the country.”
USAID was established by Congress in 1961, meaning the executive branch does not have the power to unilaterally dismantle it, Max Stier, an expert on the federal government, told The Washington Post.
“Secretary Rubio is entitled to take that position, but only Congress has the right to undo what Congress has created,” said Stier, CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit that advocates for an effective government and federal workforce.
The Trump administration on Friday moved to formally collapse the U.S. Agency for International Development, notifying remaining employees that their positions will be eliminated and that residual functions will be folded into the State Department.
The decision to unilaterally shut down an agency established by Congress is expected to draw immediate legal challenges. The administration told Congress of its intention at noon, about 10 minutes before employees were notified, according to a White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal government communications.
“Unfortunately, USAID strayed from its original mission long ago,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “Thanks to President Trump, this misguided and fiscally irresponsible era is now over.”
The move is an escalation of President Donald Trump’s campaign against the agency responsible for administering foreign aid and development assistance around the globe. That function of the government is seen by some as core to American values but is one the president has described as a “tremendous fraud” and waste of taxpayer dollars. The change, news of which was delivered in an email to staff midday Friday, is also in line with his administration’s strategy of bulldozing through precedent to exact its vision — acting quickly to create changes that may be practically hard to reverse.
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The State Department will administer USAID’s “remaining lifesaving and strategic aid programming,” Jeremy Lewin, the agency’s new chief operating officer, said in an email to staff. It was not immediately clear which programs would survive the planned collapse.
Follow Trump’s first 100 Days
A former USAID official derided the administration for moving to shut down the agency on the same day that a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar and Thailand, killing at least 144 people.
“We literally built the global system that coordinates international search-and-rescue deployments after earthquakes,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, a former senior USAID official who now leads Refugees International, a nonprofit that advocates for refugees and displaced people. “Now, the very day of the worst major quake in two years, the U.S. is firing its disaster responders rather than deploying them.”
Trump, asked about Myanmar at a swearing-in ceremony Friday, said: “We’re going to be helping. I’ve already alerted the people. Yeah. It’s terrible what’s happened. … We’ve already spoken with the country.”
USAID was established by Congress in 1961, meaning the executive branch does not have the power to unilaterally dismantle it, Max Stier, an expert on the federal government, told The Washington Post.
“Secretary Rubio is entitled to take that position, but only Congress has the right to undo what Congress has created,” said Stier, CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit that advocates for an effective government and federal workforce.
