Inside Trump’s purge at the agency that saves millions of lives
Inside Trump’s purge at the agency that saves millions of lives
USAID has become a testing ground for dismantling government agencies, agency employees tell Vox.
Summary
The Trump administration has upended USAID by abruptly freezing foreign aid spending and placing senior career officials on administrative leave, halting crucial disbursements.
The administration has implemented a 90-day freeze affecting life-saving programs such as PEPFAR and malaria initiatives, severely disrupting vital operations and international health efforts.
The administration’s impoundment strategy, widely rejected by courts, seeks to reclassify civil servants and contractors, undermining accountability and jeopardizing essential aid operations.
Critics warn that these moves create a climate of intimidation, endangering effective foreign aid delivery and weakening critical diplomatic and humanitarian efforts.
Yeah, but those are foreign lives, and some of those are probably Black lives and probably not even xtian! To the magats, this will be a win.
They're going to use the funds to help Americans, right?
Right?
Billions of people earned a bunch of money, trillions of dollars, and part of our system is that we all give it to a big organization which is tasked with doing stuff that we all agree is necessary to spend it on. The reality is a little different from the theory in some very important ways, but that's not a million miles away from what happens in reality.
And now, Trump is saying "What the fuck are you even talking about, that trillions of dollars is MINE, and mine alone."
What lawsuits are being brought over this? The president does not have the authority to just not spend money Congress has appropriated.
Previously most Congresses would act to preserve their constitutional authority, even versus an executive from the same party and whose goals they align with. Usually people act in their own self-interest. Usually a politician guards his power. Somehow this self-preservation or self-interest is gone. Somehow they also are surprised that the face-eating leopard is feasting on their carcasses
It’s up to congress, but they’re choosing to get their faces eaten
Don't kid yourself, Congress has been ceding power for centuries.
Human nature is to follow a single strong leader who assures them they can solve their problems.
I think there was a fundamental misunderstanding by the founders about self-interested parties and balancing power.
In feudal societies many barons were happy to serve a king so long as the king kept them in power. They don't necessarily need all the power to be satiated, just lording over their fiefdom is sufficient. This is basically what the US congress has become. They've realized that the president has out-sized power and as long as the president is on their side then they mutually benefit.
The president just needs to keep the keys to power happy.
How do you figure? Congress has budgeted, that doesn't mean it has to be spent as far as I know.
It's called "Impoundment" and it was made illegal when Nixon abused it via the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
The president is supposed to be the guy who executes the will of the people, as laid out by Congress. You wouldn't know it from our news and stuff but Congress is the senior branch of government.
We're so close to using USDA money to prop up weapons manufacturing, effectively beating our plowshares into swords. I can almost taste the irony, which is good because there will be little left to eat if we let it get that far.