Trump and Musk should gut USAID. America needs to fix our own house first. | Opinion
Gutting the U.S. Agency for International Development might sound cruel, but President Trump needs to stop government waste.
At President Donald Trump's behest, Elon Musk is gutting the U.S. Agency for International Development, the federal agency that dispenses billions of taxpayer dollars in humanitarian aid around the world.
About 10,000 USAID employees, excluding essential personnel, were notified Tuesday that they will be placed on administrative leave at the end of Friday.
So continues Trump's sledgehammer method of stripping the federal government of waste and excess. Some of this is good. Some of it's overreach. All of this is messy.
Republicans like me who voted for Trump are glad to see him make good on his promise to continue to strip federal agencies of excessive spending, particularly through an entity focused solely on foreign aid.
USAID should be gutted. We need to fix our own house first.
It's not news to Republicans that USAID has been spending billions around the world while the U.S. government racks up a $711 billion deficit, an embarrassing number of veterans are languishing in homelessness and the average family is struggling with inflation and financial stability.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, has criticized USAID for a while. She told a news outlet that the federal agency stonewalled her last year when she tried to investigate their spending and even threatened legal action.
USAID is an independent agency of the U.S. government, an oxymoron to be sure. And it's still funded via taxpayer dollars, which means it should be accountable to the U.S. taxpayer.
If what Ernst says is true, this raises significant questions about what USAID is spending and why. It seems the only reason to threaten a lawsuit is incompetence or, worse, corruption. I'd like to think this isn't the case, but it sure seems suspicious.
On Fox News Tuesday, Ernst explained why she thinks it's important to gut USAID: "What we have seen with USAID is just a blatant disregard for what Americans want to see and how they want their dollars spent around the globe.
"There are important projects. We acknowledge that. But we have to disrupt the system, ferret out the waste and get back to what we should be doing. And that's making sure that American interests are represented in supporting our allies and partners."
USAID isn't exactly being held accountable for some bad choices
Ernst is right. Of course USAID gives humanitarian aid to all kinds of valid organization. But a cursory search of USAID grants also shows an extraordinary amount of spending on things that wound up being a waste of money.
In 2019, a USAID grant provided $6 million to "increase educational opportunities and strengthen the livelihoods" in Egypt.
In 2021, USAID awarded $110,000 to Helping Hand for Relief and Development through the Ocean Freight Reimbursement Program. "This award was made despite longstanding, detailed allegations that HHRD is connected to designated terrorist organizations, terror financiers, and extremist groups," House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul wrote in a letter to USAID.
Lawmakers demanded an investigation.
We've aided refugees all over the world. Through USAID, our government spent more than $12 billion until 2020 to help Syrian civilians affected by war. Most funding was intended for food and medical supplies. Between 2015 and 2018, USAID awarded $122 million for food kits for Syrian refugees.
Frankly, that seems alarming enough, especially with all the poverty afflicting U.S. citizens.
But the effort failed in part when Mahmoud Al Hafyan was accused of skimming more than $9 million worth of meals funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and diverting it to armed combatant groups.
A 2015 ProPublica story revealed how USAID wasted $17 billion in Afghanistan, including: $335 million on a diesel-fueled power plant that was so expensive it was underused, $486 million on planes that couldn't be flown and $106 million on an unused consulate.
Consider what we could have done with all that money here in the United States.
Naysayers will complain that the United States spends less than 1% of its budget on foreign assistance, and that Republicans would never have spent those funds on grants for programs in America. Perhaps not. But if the point is to cut waste, why wouldn't they go to infrastructure?
Or better yet, perhaps the taxpayer dollars that fund USAID are better suited to remain with the taxpayer. I can think of families who can use a bit more money in their bank accounts thanks to a lower tax rate.
Trump didn't say he'd make Afghanistan or Africa great again
One of the tenets of liberalism is that the government exists to help both U.S. citizens and the globe. In fact, one could argue Republicans are guilty of thinking this way, too. Obliterating USAID targets this core belief.
Gutting USAID might sound heinous, inhumane or just purely selfish. But billions of taxpayer dollars are going toward organizations around the world that are intentionally or unintentionally wasting it. Not every single dollar is spent saving lives or providing food and shelter to the poor and needy: This is a misnomer that USAID thrives on. This must be corrected.
Even so, if Trump wants this to stick, he should bring these things to Congress and urge them to eradicate or revise the agency's funding and operations. It's not only how our government is supposed to work, it's also the only way to ensure these power plays won't be flipped around and undone if a Democrat is elected president in 2028.
Trump knew what he was doing when he said his goal was to "Make America Great Again." He didn't say he'd make Afghanistan or Africa great again. USAID seems to be trying to do that. And it's doing so poorly, too. Trump's America-first focus is a double-edged sword. But it is one that many voters want.
It is painful to watch this take place in real time, but it must be done in order to help America regain focus and thrive. Then the United States can help when and where we can in a more efficient way. But if or when USAID is restructured, taxpayer-funded grants should be offered in a way that is efficient ‒ and not at the expense of our own citizens who need help or would benefit from paying less taxes.
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with Paste BN. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.