Elon Musk and his alignment with
President Donald Trump was under scrutiny long before the inauguration, and now, the DOGE chieftain is wielding seemingly unchecked power within the federal government despite not being elected. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), an independent agency, has been ordered to shut down and possibly be moved under the direction of the U.S. Department of State under President Trump’s orders, and workers for the agency are speaking out.
To explain the function of USAID, the agency was established in 1961 under the guidance of President John F. Kennedy and provides funding for humanitarian efforts around the globe. Over 100 countries benefit from the agency’s billions and does not absorb a large portion of the federal budget. The agency employs over 10,000 people.
However, Trump has vehemently expressed that the agency is a tool of his political opponents and wants to stamp out what he feels is criminal activity and has employed Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to head the cleanup effort.
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Trump ordered an end to foreign financial assistance with Musk taking a larger role in the handling of shutting down USAID despite not being an elected official and a foreign national. It has been an unprecedented takeover of the federal government that has largely been endorsed by the Republican Party, which has marched lockstep along party lines.
Surprisingly, some Democrats have warmly embraced the actions of Trump and Musk, and some Democratic Party senators have voted in favor of the president’s controversial cabinet. A coalition of Democratic Party has staged protests to halt the rapid nature of the Trump administration’s moves, which has run into a few legal snags yet not nearly enough to halt the carnage.
Of the damage left in the wake of Trump and Musk are USAID workers who have been cut off from their workstations and ripped away from assisting those in need. One worker shared details that Musk’s DOGE squad, a grouping of engineers largely new to the workforce and assumably not at the federal government level. One of the named DOGE engineers was a former software engineer for Twitter, now known as X.
In a small glimmer of hope for the agency, the
AFL-CIO and other government unions have sued DOGE to protect the data of workers from Musk’s engineering team.
From the information and reactions we’ve gleaned on X and from government websites, we’re sharing thoughts from the public at the recent happenings between DOGE and USAID. Those responses can be viewed below.
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Photo: Getty
