Dem
47
GOP
53
Occasionally, Co-President Donald Trump makes news by saying something so outlandish that it is impossible to ignore (like calling for all the Gazans to be removed from Gaza so he can develop it into the Trump Riviera), but increasingly, the other co-president, Elon Musk, seems to be actually running the show. And he is very clever, something co-president #1 is not. In particular, it looks like Musk set a trap for Democrats and, sure enough, they all ran headfirst into it.
The trap was abolishing USAID, which doles out foreign aid to poor countries. A good case can be made that foreign aid is more in the interest of the U.S. than of the recipient country because poor, unstable countries produce terrorists, as well as people desperate to escape to the U.S. at all costs. Keeping them out requires walls and a bigger border patrol and holding pens and more immigration judges and the cost of all that greatly exceeds the measly $40 billion in foreign aid that USAID distributes. However, most Americans don't understand this. They see "lots" of money (in reality, <1% of the federal budget) being given to foreign countries instead of being spent in America. Again, in reality, much of the money is spent in America, making products (food, medicine, blankets, etc.) that are shipped to the recipient country, thus creating jobs for Americans. Also, if the U.S. pulls back from helping these countries, China is sure to move in to fill the vacuum. But given the public perception that there is a lot of waste in the government, Musk cleverly picked foreign aid as his first battle. Many people approve of getting rid of it. Going after the Department of Education first would have been dumb since many people think schools are actually a good idea.
Sure enough, as soon as Musk made his move, Democrats rallied around saving USAID. Look:
When long-time Democratic strategist David Axelrod was asked whether Democrats were "walking into a trap" on foreign aid, he said: "My heart is with the people out on the street outside USAID, but my head tells me: 'Man, Trump will be well satisfied to have this fight.' When you talk about cuts, the first thing people say is: 'Cut foreign aid.'" Former White House chief of staff, congressman, mayor of Chicago, and ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said: "You don't fight every fight. You don't swing at every pitch. By gutting an unpopular program and then 'daring' the Democrats to defend it, Musk has put Democrats into a position of very visibly defending something most voters don't like." Even though Henry Clay was a Whig, not a Democrat, many Democrats have embraced his famous statement: "I'd rather be right than be president." Democrats who waste precious political capital on defending foreign aid may be right, but they are not going to be president.
This is not to say the Democrats should have rolled over and played dead. What they could have done is vociferously oppose Musk on the grounds that Congress, not the Executive Branch, not Trump, and certainly not Musk and his band of 20-something hackers, has the constitutional right to decide how the government spends its money. It doesn't matter if USAID is a worthy organization or not. If it isn't, it is up to Congress to cut it, not Musk. The idea of an unelected businessman personally deciding to override laws passed by Congress is a much bigger deal than whether USAID is worth the $40 billion. But this is a "process" argument, and many people aren't moved by "process" arguments, even if the argument is: "Didn't Donald Trump take an oath to defend the Constitution, not to have his sidekick subvert it?"
A few Democrats get it. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) said: "The emergency is now. We need to act like it. This isn't about any particular program or the theater criticism that substitutes for strategy. This is about making sure these billionaires are not able to loot the federal government and strip it for parts." The Democrats should have effectively ignored the agency's specific mission and focused on a private businessman usurping Congress' constitutional role. (V)