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USAID Exposed

I think it's important to understand what Trump can and can't do.

USAID is an agency that exists to implement the policy outlined in the "Foreign Assistance Act". Trump himself signed a bill in 2017 amending this act that created new positions within USAID. But I suppose the corruption in USAID just started during the Biden administration. It's fully within the President's power to make sure that foreign aid is following foreign policy, much of which the President has the power to define.

Now, "shutting down USAID" basically means nothing outside of a bureaucratic cleansing. Trump does not control the appropriations outside of his veto power. So he can "suspend" and whatnot, and even shuffle that money, but he's got to spend it eventually, or else it will just be spent by the next administration.

So as Whitney points out, the real thing happening is that he's consolidating the power within the state dept. I don't deny that the consolidation is good for efficiency, but it is also bad for oversight.

How about just ending the Foreign Assistance Act as well as the appropriations?

Fat chance.

The only thing Trump is ending, is a lot of people's jobs. Maybe this is good. But I'm skeptical here as well. I'm familiar with how government does I.T. These attempts to bribe federal employees to leave and join the private sector are likely being spearheaded by Musk and DOGE. My guess is that they want to outsource much of these tasks so that team Musk/Thiel/Vance can more easily plug in the technocracy. Executive branch can't appropriate itself funds to do this, so they are doing an "efficiency" exercise to free up the cash to pay for it.

Again, good or bad, we'll see. It's not even been two weeks. But please stop pretending Trump is "saving money". He doesn't even have that power, that's your lazy do-nothing Congress.

 
Well....



Now the goal is more clear.

How convenient that Trump gets credit for exposing Covid corruption that occurred on his own watch (2019). But Biden conveniently pardons the people who worked for Trump, you know because Biden is trying to "protect them from political persecution". I said when Fauci was pardoned it was a favor to Trump, because now Trump has no expectation from his base to go after the guy.

And now Rubio is "acting director of USAID". Because, as I stated above, legally Trump can only shuffle things around. No matter where he puts the USAID money, or what he chooses to label it as in his new administration, it's the same thing.

Trump is truly the king of spin.
 
Even this article is full of dumb statements:

USAID Absorbed Into State Department Under Rubio After DOGE Crusade

https://www.zerohedge.com/political...-ball-worms-no-apple-must-get-rid-whole-thing

Here's a snippet of Musk talking about it, but the whole article has much of the same sentiment:
Musk told the more than 682,000 listeners who tuned in that the president "agreed we should shut it [USAID] down." This would be one of the largest planned cuts to date, and the fate of USAID is likely that it will lose its independence and be rolled into the State Department.

"As we dug into USAID it became apparent that what we have here is not an apple with a worm in it, but we have actually just a ball of worms. If you have an apple with a worm in it, you can take the worm out. If you have a whole ball of worms, it's hopeless. USAID is a ball of worms. There is no apple. And when there is no apple you just need to get rid of the whole thing. That's why it's got to go. It's beyond repair," Musk explained.

This idea that USAID was an "independent agency feeding the deep state's piggy bank" is silly. There is no independent agency in the executive branch. They all answer to the President. It's literally written in the Foreign Assistance Act, that the President is supposed to give yearly strategic reports and guidance on how to use the money.

The more Musk talks, the more he appears to just be a liar. He must know that the President has no power for "planned cuts". Cut what? Trump can only cut staff, but the money for staff is still there for him to spend which is likely the money Musk is financing his team with.

There's no "killing" USAID without Congress repealing the Foreign Assistance Act. What's more likely with Rubio in charge, is more money directed to Israel.

But it's great P.R. for Trump to "expose" things, especially when it whitewashes his first term.
 
...
Audit USAID…Then Shut it Down!
by Ron Paul | Feb 3, 2025

As of this writing, when you attempt to access the US Agency for International Development (USAID) website or social media pages you are informed that, “This site can’t be reached.” The media reports that the new Trump Administration has not only frozen USAID activities but may be planning on bringing it back under control of the US State Department. Other reports, including statements by Elon Musk, suggest that it will be closed completely.

If true, the closing of USAID may be one of the most significant changes President Trump has made among many dramatic actions in his first couple of weeks in office. Many Americans may still have the idea that USAID is a government agency delivering relief at disaster sites overseas. They may still remember the bags of rice or grain with the USAID logo on them. But that is not USAID.

USAID is a key component of the US government’s “regime change” operations worldwide. USAID spends billions of dollars every year propping up “NGOs” overseas that function as shadow governments, eating away at elected governments that the US interventionists want to overthrow. Behind most US foreign policy disasters overseas you will see the fingerprints of USAID. From Ukraine to Georgia and far beyond, USAID is meddling in the internal affairs of foreign countries – something that would infuriate Americans if it was happening to us.

When President Trump ordered a 90 day pause in USAID activities, we quickly learned just how pernicious the agency really is. The US media reported that Ukrainian press outlets were scrambling to keep their doors open when the US dollars stopped flowing. It is reported that 90 percent of the media outlets are funded by the US government!

This means that there is virtually no independent media in Ukraine, only fake news outlets willing to toe the US Administration’s propaganda line. Does anyone think these wholly US-funded “news” outlets would ever publish a story that the US government did not want published?

This is plainly immoral, but it is also dangerous. Most US mainstream media stories about Ukraine have their origins in the “reporting” of the local media. From battlefield news to casualties to the state of the Ukrainian military, the “news” from Ukraine is being written by US government-backed media outlets and then picked up by US and other western media. It is a closed propaganda loop that not only propagandizes the US citizen but also feeds false information into US government outlets – such as Congress – that rely on mainstream US media reporting for their news on Ukraine.

No wonder so many in Washington continue to support this hopeless war!

But USAID is not just in the business of disinformation. Elon Musk recently re-posted a New York Post article on X reporting that USAID funneled $53 million to EcoHealth Alliance to support gain-of-function research on coronaviruses at the Wuhan lab! Did USAID help fund COVID? Americans have a right to know.

In natural catastrophes overseas Americans have shown themselves to be extremely generous. Private volunteer assistance organizations can more effectively assist victims of disasters worldwide.

USAID needs a full and transparent audit. Americans deserve to know exactly what is being done in their name overseas. Then the agency needs to be shuttered completely, and its employees sent home. That would go a long way toward making America great again.
...
https://ronpaulinstitute.org/audit-usaidthen-shut-it-down/
 
Even this article is full of dumb statements:

USAID Absorbed Into State Department Under Rubio After DOGE Crusade

https://www.zerohedge.com/political...-ball-worms-no-apple-must-get-rid-whole-thing

Here's a snippet of Musk talking about it, but the whole article has much of the same sentiment:


This idea that USAID was an "independent agency feeding the deep state's piggy bank" is silly. There is no independent agency in the executive branch. They all answer to the President. It's literally written in the Foreign Assistance Act, that the President is supposed to give yearly strategic reports and guidance on how to use the money.

The more Musk talks, the more he appears to just be a liar. He must know that the President has no power for "planned cuts". Cut what? Trump can only cut staff, but the money for staff is still there for him to spend which is likely the money Musk is financing his team with.

There's no "killing" USAID without Congress repealing the Foreign Assistance Act. What's more likely with Rubio in charge, is more money directed to Israel.

But it's great P.R. for Trump to "expose" things, especially when it whitewashes his first term.

Hmmm. It appears that USAID was created by executive order, thus it can be terminated by executive order.

The original intent of the organization has been completely corrupted. And I highly doubt any POTUS knows everything that goes on there.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the United States government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $50 billion, USAID is one of the largest official aid agencies in the world and accounts for more than half of all U.S. foreign assistance – the highest in the world in absolute dollar terms.

Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act on September 4, 1961, which reorganized U.S. foreign assistance programs and mandated the creation of an agency to administer economic aid. USAID was subsequently established by the executive order of President John F. Kennedy, who sought to unite several existing foreign assistance organizations and programs under one agency.[4] USAID became the first U.S. foreign assistance organization whose primary focus was long-term socioeconomic development.

Congress authorizes USAID's programs in the Foreign Assistance Act,[5] which Congress supplements through directions in annual funding appropriation acts and other legislation. As an official component of U.S. foreign policy, USAID operates subject to the guidance of the president, secretary of state, and the National Security Council.
...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Agency_for_International_Development
 
So much winning!

Are the members here that thought Trump was just a big psyop still holding that position?
 
Hmmm. It appears that USAID was created by executive order, thus it can be terminated by executive order.

The original intent of the organization has been completely corrupted. And I highly doubt any POTUS knows everything that goes on there.

Granted, but executive orders are to execute the law. JFK did not EO USAID into existence by fiat, he was required to implement the law. Just like Trump can't eliminate the duties USAID was doing on behalf of the law, he still has to do those things.

We are getting into a weird space where people think EO's are making law rather than enforcing them. If EO's break the law they are illegal. IF EO's fulfill the law they are legal. If the President refuses to carry out the law (for instance by ignoring the law) the courts can force him to do things by court order.

Saying USAID is corrupt is simply saying the executive branch is corrupt. It's a truism.

If something illegal was done, where are the charges? Who is being arrested? There won't be any, because it's all "legal", it's just unethical. Well, duh.

Instead of arrests you get presidential virtue signaling and bureaucratic restructuring. This is winning apparently. Shuffling bureaucrats and changing agency names around like pedophiles in the Vatican.
 
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