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The Co-Presidents Are Shutting Down USAID

As we note in the previous item, Donald Trump does not care about the deficit or the debt, per se. However, he is a pretty devoted xenophobe, particularly when it comes to nations and peoples where the skin colors are of a darker hue. And consistent with that, Trump really hates to see American money go to sh**hole countries. Elon Musk is clever enough to seek out areas where he and The Donald are on the same page, albeit maybe for different reasons. And so, it is not much of a surprise that Musk announced last night that USAID would be shut down. That cuts the budget (win for Musk), is a big move that will be praised by right-wing media (win for Trump), and does these things substantially on the backs of brown-skinned peoples (win for both).

USAID, for those not familiar, is the United States' (and the world's) largest foreign-aid agency. It distributes, at the moment, between $40 billion and $50 billion a year to over 100 different nations, primarily in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. That aid is spent on many and varied things, including disaster relief, combating poverty, fighting disease, socioeconomic development, protecting the environment and promoting democracy. That kind of coin tends to go a long way in poorer countries, even though it's a relative drop in the bucket that is the federal budget.

Over the past week, the administration telegraphed that something like this was coming. First, 50 career USAID staffers were placed on paid administrative leave. Then, on Saturday, the USAID's director of security and his deputy had a confrontation with DOGErs working for Musk, who were trying to access secure USAID systems. The director and deputy threatened to call the U.S. Marshals, and instead were added to the list of people on administrative leave. Musk's people did gain access after that, although it's not clear what information they were able to retrieve. Also unclear is for what—or for whom—they might want confidential information about foreign nations. Could Mohammed bin Salman's investment in Jared Kushner be paying off? It's not impossible.

It is hardly news that Musk and Trump, who have never wanted for anything in their lives, have zero empathy for those who are less fortunate. However, the two men are also so colossally narrow-minded that they cannot conceive that USAID's work is not entirely beneficent, because it also exists to serve American interests. To take one example among many, poor and desperate people are much more likely to become radicalized. And the price tag of the war in Afghanistan, which was a fight against radicalism, was rather more than $40 billion (in fact, it was $2.313 trillion). We do not suggest that wisely invested foreign aid would have completely prevented 9/11 and the associated conflicts, but we do suggest that wisely invested foreign aid can often mitigate certain problems far more cheaply, as compared to the cost of addressing those problems once they've been allowed to really take root and to fester.

Also, poor and desperate people may do anything to get out and come to America. Keeping them out requires more walls, Border Patrol officers and their equipment, holding pens to contain them when they are caught, and a bigger and more expensive government. Maybe spending a measly $40 billion to try to keep people in their own countries would be a much cheaper way to stem unwanted immigrants than building walls and hiring more cops.

Beyond all the other dynamics here, Trump and Musk also very clearly have one other goal in mind. They are going to throw the gauntlet down on impoundment, as many times as they need to, as flagrantly as they can, to see what Congress and the courts do about it. The history of USAID is very complicated, but the short version is that it was part of an evolution in American foreign assistance that began with the Marshall Plan of the 1940s, acquired its current form thanks to an executive order in 1961, and has since been enshrined into law by Congress. In particular, the current USAID outlay of $40 billion was set aside for... USAID. It was not set aside for border walls, or to buy new computers for the DOGE department, or to cover $400 tax rebate checks for all taxpayers. Nor was it set aside to go unspent.

If this issue is left up to the courts, then it could be months or years until there is a resolution. Congress, by contrast, could make a move much more quickly. The ball is in the courts of the Senate and House Republican conferences who, of course, have a majority in their respective chambers. Undoubtedly, they do not relish the idea of standing up to Trump, and having him sic the right-wing media and the MAGA militia upon them. On the other hand, if the two co-presidents are allowed to rewrite the budget at will, then Congress will have been stripped of the power of the purse, which might be its single most important power. Aren't you glad you got promoted, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA)? Isn't this SOOOOOO much better than quietly serving as a backbencher? Turtle had some health issues but is feeling more relieved every day now that he can bask somewhere in peace. (Z)



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