With many things Trump has been doing, there are plusses and minuses. USAID is complex.
The Good
Rooting out fraud and ridiculous unauthorized payments is good. Moreover, there is grounds to fire everyone who sent out checks without questioning a single one.
The lead image is a great example. In addition there is $8.2 million payments to Politico.
And there is strong evidence that Politico was paid to suppress stories on Hunter and Joe Biden.
The unseen is undoubtedly worse. It’s good to root out all of this fraud and corruption and prosecute when appropriate.
The Bad
Sorry DOGE, but a blanket cancellation of all payments is unconstitutional.
USAID Critic claim that since President John F. Kennedy created USAID using an executive order in 1961, President Trump can do away with it via executive order.
However, the Congressional Research Service points out “Because Congress established USAID as an independent establishment within the executive branch, the President does not have the authority to abolish it; congressional authorization would be required to abolish, move, or consolidate USAID.“
Some of us (very few actually) want to see the President follow the law. I am in that group.
However, most people are hypocrites. The Left praised unconstitutional actions by Biden, and the Right is loudly cheering clearly unconstitutional Trump actions now.
I get it from both the Left and Right because I want both parties to follow the law.
The Ugly
Elon Musk has no power to do anything but advise the President and make recommendations.
NBC reports USAID security leaders removed after refusing Elon Musk’s DOGE employees access to secure systems
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.
When USAID Director of Security John Voorhees and his deputy, Brian McGill, refused to allow them in, the DOGE employees threatened to call the U.S. Marshals, two of the sources said. The DOGE employees were eventually able to gain access to the secure systems, according to three of the sources, but it was not clear what information they were able to obtain.
Also note Elon Musk says he and Trump are shutting down USAID
Musk, the head of Trump’s government efficiency initiative, announced the shutdown in the middle of the night in an audio-only appearance on his social media site X.
But Musk has no power to shut down anything.
No one should defend this because the only legitimate role of DOGE is to make recommendations.
If you disagree then please tell me how you would have felt if Biden authorized George Soros access to the system to shut down payments he disagreed with.
Hypocrites make excuses. I don’t.
Also in the ugly category is the simple fact that many if not most of the payments are legitimate. By legitimate, I mean genuinely authorized by Congress, not that I think they are a good idea.
A 90-day review is simply too long.
The Right Approach
What Trump should have done is allow Musk to search for questionable items and report them.
That part happened, but in an ugly way.
Then Trump could legitimately block those items. Also he could have directed USAID to look at and question every expense, flagging and temporarily those that are questionable.
Instead, Trump blocked everything except for “critical items” whatever that means.
The Unfortunate Reality
There is no advantage in releasing Musk in a China shop than releasing George Soros in the same China shop. No good will come from a reckless smashing of plates.
And the unfortunate impact might very well be the courts block everything when some very good things may have happened if Trump took a legitimate case-by-case look.
Lawsuits are pending and Trump will lose. We should not be in this setup.
Related Posts
February 5, 2025: Some Staunch Trump Supporters Will Not Defend His Gaza Proposal
February 5, 2025: Trump Cancels USAID Funding After DOGE Finds $8.2 Million Paid to Politico
Addendum: Elon Musk’s DOGE Blocked from Accessing Labor Department Data in Stunning Win for Unions
Well that was fast.