Summary
The Trump administration has dismantled USAID, placing 4,080 staffers on leave and firing 1,600 more, eliminating over 90% of the agency’s foreign aid contracts totaling $60 billion.
Affected employees were given just 15 minutes to clear their workspaces under strict security.
This action, led by Trump and Elon Musk, proceeded without congressional authorization, though a Congressional Research Service report states such approval is required.
Legal challenges continue, with the Supreme Court temporarily blocking a federal judge’s order to release frozen funds.
Don’t worry, China will be happy to pick up the slack.
Yeah. This is the dumbest thing we’ve ever done. The goodwill and passive benefits that came from this were worth 10x what we paid into it.
We’re going to let greed ruin our entire country…all so that a few billionaires get a little bit of extra money.
Aw c’mon bro that’s not fair. It’s only five weeks in, give it some time to get going! I predict some dumb things coming up from this exciting administration that will liquefy people’s entire zeitgeist. You’ll look back on this and be nostalgic for simpler times.
We?
Speaking as an American…we are apparently a country full of uneducated, greedy people.
Can’t have my taxes to feed people because they might not ‘deserve’ it.
Can’t have my taxes going to another country to prevent their genocide…because what are we getting out of it?
Fucking un-empathetic people. Sure, we have problems here, and yeah, we really need to do things to make them better. But fucking destroying our government from the inside and destroying any goodwill we had with other countries…all in the name of saving a bit on taxes is…just insane. Like, I have no words for how dumb it is. It’s appalling.
The rich are a disease that can’t stop stealing money from all of us. And the politicians involved don’t care if this place is a shit heap, as long as they’re in power. Which is another disease on society.
It could not be more apparent that these guys don’t care about democracy, the US, or the people.
It’s not (just) greed. It’s sabotage.
Donald Trump is extremely dim and doesn’t understand diplomacy or soft power at all. He thinks strength means making others suffer, and he’s too stupid to see how this might not be a smart move in the longer term.
Either that or he’s doing it deliberately to weaken the USA, because he doesn’t work for the USA.