Amid the assault on federal institutions orchestrated by tycoon-in-chief Elon Musk and his U.S. DOGE Service disciples, the National Endowment for Democracy has found itself unable to gain access to its congressionally appropriated funds at the U.S. Treasury. As a result, sources told me, NED’s operations are grinding to a halt.
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The organization’s entire budget ($315 million a year) is a rounding error in the context of a $6.9 trillion U.S. budget, and eliminating it will have next to no impact on a $1.8 trillion budget deficit. But NED’s practical and symbolic significance far exceeds its modest financial resources.
Since its creation in 1983, at the instigation of President Ronald Reagan, NED has been backing dissidents and activists around the world who advocate American ideals and who are working to combat the corruption and despotism of authoritarian regimes. NED helped the Solidarity movement in 1980s Poland and the recent Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran. That NED has now been denied access to its congressionally appropriated funds, in evident violation of the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, is a troubling indicator of how the Trump administration is undermining democracy at home while aligning with authoritarian regimes and illiberal movements abroad.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/02/06/doge-pentagon-tech-innovation/
The impact of NED’s defunding (first reported by the Free Press) is already being felt. NED and its core partners — the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute, the (labor affiliated) Solidarity Center and the Center for International Private Enterprise — are having to furlough employees and close country offices.
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NED has also been forced to suspend funding for about 2,000 grant recipients in 100 countries. These are organizations such as the Cuban Democratic Directorate, whose shortwave broadcasts provide independent information to the people of Cuba; Memorial, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights organization that provides an accounting of political prisoners in Russia; the World Uyghur Congress, which documents the Chinese Communist Party’s human rights abuses against the Uyghur people; and China Digital Times, which exposes Beijing’s disinformation campaigns.
Make sense of the latest news and debates with our daily newsletter
The organization’s entire budget ($315 million a year) is a rounding error in the context of a $6.9 trillion U.S. budget, and eliminating it will have next to no impact on a $1.8 trillion budget deficit. But NED’s practical and symbolic significance far exceeds its modest financial resources.
Since its creation in 1983, at the instigation of President Ronald Reagan, NED has been backing dissidents and activists around the world who advocate American ideals and who are working to combat the corruption and despotism of authoritarian regimes. NED helped the Solidarity movement in 1980s Poland and the recent Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran. That NED has now been denied access to its congressionally appropriated funds, in evident violation of the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, is a troubling indicator of how the Trump administration is undermining democracy at home while aligning with authoritarian regimes and illiberal movements abroad.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/02/06/doge-pentagon-tech-innovation/
The impact of NED’s defunding (first reported by the Free Press) is already being felt. NED and its core partners — the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute, the (labor affiliated) Solidarity Center and the Center for International Private Enterprise — are having to furlough employees and close country offices.
Follow Max Boot
NED has also been forced to suspend funding for about 2,000 grant recipients in 100 countries. These are organizations such as the Cuban Democratic Directorate, whose shortwave broadcasts provide independent information to the people of Cuba; Memorial, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights organization that provides an accounting of political prisoners in Russia; the World Uyghur Congress, which documents the Chinese Communist Party’s human rights abuses against the Uyghur people; and China Digital Times, which exposes Beijing’s disinformation campaigns.
