Musk on USAID: ‘Time for it to die’

[Pommer]

I like your comment and agree in principle.

However, since voter turnout was 63.9% that means that it was only 31.8% of eligible voters who voted for this insanity.

There's hope.

You’re gonna remind yourself that the Mustache-Man had about the same level of support at the time he got the Chancellorship. It’s okay.
Nobody wants to think about that, one side because it’s obviously not true, and the other side who believe that a “larger-than-life” celebrity god-man with a history of running companies into the ground might not have been the “best choice”.

I am not “worried” about where our Nation is headed.
We’ll be fine, we fight like cats, but in the end we’re still ALLL Americans!

My how funny this time will be, when they go to carve the history slabs!

 

[Pommer]

I'm actually quite interested in watching the next Impeachment hearing, when one comes along.
Impeachments are about "high crimes and misdemeanors", but if nothing is illegal for the president then it is impossible for him to commit crimes. So..... does that mean impeachment is no longer a thing?

Not that any USA president has ever been removed through the impeachment process. So probably no big difference.

The impeachment process is not a legal-process but a political-process.
There are probably a few things left that wouldn’t be “kosher” for Trump to do, even among staunch supporters, but for the most part, he’s got carte blanche until at least 2027.

 

[Pommer]

I've watched your video. But I still don't get your issue with USAID.

The guy was saying that 2 Trillion dollars goes from the "global North" to the "global South" some of that being Aid.
And he talked about 5 Trillion dollars flowing back from the GS to the GN. That seems like an obvious problem.

But....
Taking away the aid doesn't make things better for the GS. It makes it worse.
So please explain what your problem is with giving the GS aid money?

Some expect to prime the pump once in a while, not knowing that the thing will stop altogether if not continuously replenished.
But they’ve been told that “things are bad” and need to have someone “do something”.
They hired Trump, again, he’ll do okay, and then leave office when it’s Constitutionally required and not a second less, (if he can help it), as it should be.

My side might be a little farther along the path than I, when it comes to believing our own political-hyperbole, but I’m confident that President Trump really wants to be the “Boss” of the Nation and it’s going to be a ride, but we’ll survive just fine.

 

[essentialsaltes]

It all evens out in the end. Carter eliminates Guinea worm disease from the planet, Trump eliminates water, sanitation, and hygiene funding for countries with waterborne illnesses.

 

[wing2000]

I think the USAID contracts with private companies who deliver the aid warrants some attention.....however, it seems Musk simply wants to do away with US assistance to those who need it most. After all, HIV clinics across Africa were shut down last week......I'm not sure if they are re-opening (does SoS Rubio consider them "life-saving"?).

 

[Laodicean60]

I want to see aid stop to countries hostile to us, and we need to use some aid money to buy influence but we should never stop humanitarian aid.

 

[Hans Blaster]

I think the USAID contracts with private companies who deliver the aid warrants some attention.....however, it seems Musk simply wants to do away with US assistance to those who need it most. After all, HIV clinics across Africa were shut down last week......I'm not sure if they are re-opening (does SoS Rubio consider them "life-saving"?).

They could appoint an inspector general...

 

[wing2000]

They could appoint an inspector general...

IG Report: (remarkably, it's still available on the USAID site)

Loading…

oig.usaid.gov

 

[Fantine]

If you claim to care about the less fortunate in the world, what Trump/Musk are doing is the antithesis of that.


Turmoil inside USAID: DOGE reps take over offices, senior officials placed on leave

Amid ongoing turmoil inside the U.S. Agency for International Development, sources told ABC News that Department of Government Efficiency staffers have moved to take over offices, escalating tensions as more senior staff members are locked out of internal systems, additional employees are placed on administrative leave, and the agency’s newly appointed chief of staff resigned as the Elon Musk-led agency works to assert control over the USAID, which oversees foreign aid, disaster relief and international development programs.

On Friday night, a dramatic scene played out when a group of individuals who identified themselves as State Department employees and DOGE representatives arrived at the USAID offices in the Ronald Reagan Building and demanded immediate access to every office, according to sources familiar with the incident.

After initially being denied entry, the group told security guards that if they were not granted entry, they would call the U.S. Marshals Service, sources said. The guards ultimately complied, the source said.

As reports emerged over clashes inside USAID, Musk unloaded a barrage of attacks against the agency across his social media platform, X.

"USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die," Musk wrote in one post.

When shown Musk’s posts on X targeting USAID, a senior official for the agency told ABC News, “The warp-speed of this mafia-like takeover has shaken USAID staff to the core.”

The group gained access to USAID’s internal systems on Friday, including the agency’s website and several critical databases, according to sources familiar with the matter. Among the systems was the Development Evaluation Clearinghouse, which houses reports on past and ongoing USAID programs, as well as the Development Information Solution (DIS) -- a system used to track congressionally mandated and performance-related data for all USAID programs worldwide.

Sources also said that the group also seized control of a software system called Phoenix, a program for USAID's financial management system used to track and manage the agency’s budgeting, accounting and financial transactions. The system was down over the weekend, sources said, which has sent shockwaves across contractors for USAID who are fearful they won't be paid for their work. Major firms that manage global supply chains, including those for initiatives like antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and other essential medicines to combat HIV/AIDS, rely on Phoenix.

Sources told ABC News the Trump administration’s foreign aid cuts are being overseen by Peter Marocco, a campaign ally in the Office of Foreign Assistance who was reportedly caught on camera inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

​

The Website Vanished

It's been a tumultuous weekend for USAID — the U.S. Agency for International Development. On Saturday sometime after 3 a.m., its website went down, according to the Internet Archive, a nonprofit group that tracks web pages.

The deletion of the website and social media accounts alongside significant layoffs and the near-total suspension of work is an effort to dismantle USAID entirely, Jeremy Konyndyk told NPR. Konyndyk led disaster relief under Obama and the COVID and mpox responses under Biden at USAID. He's currently president of the aid group Refugees International.

"They're trying to eliminate the agency," Konyndyk said.

"They have announced no plan and given no rationale — they're just taking everything down," Konyndyk said. "They're trying to do it behind the scenes rather than openly," he said, so they don't have to "defend what they're doing" in announcements to the public.

The consequences of a diminished or erased USAID would be dire, Konyndyk said, noting that one key component of its programs is keeping outbreaks and epidemics from reaching U.S. shores.

USAID is "enduring an unlawful shutdown, purge, and dismantling," wrote Dr. Atul Gawande, former assistant administrator for global health at USAID, in a post on Bluesky on Sunday.

The dissolution would extend beyond "the unlawful destruction of USAID's life-saving work," Gawande told NPR. "USAID has become the place where the administration is demonstrating and developing its playbook for eviscerating other targeted agencies."

The web shutdown comes in the wake of both the stop work order and the furloughing or laying off of hundreds of USAID employees. In his first two weeks in office, the Trump administration placed senior leadership at USAID on leave and laid off or furloughed more than 400 contractors in the agency's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance and also laid off hundreds more in its Global Health Bureau.

Yes. We had the presence of mind to vote for Harris. This nightmare was signed up for by Trump voters.

 

[Vambram]

Yes. We had the presence of mind to vote for Harris. This nightmare was signed up for by Trump voters.

This is NOT a nightmare.

 

[Diamond72]

Amid ongoing turmoil inside the U.S. Agency for International Development, sources told ABC News that Department of Government Efficiency staffers have moved to take over offices, escalating tensions as more senior staff members are locked out of internal systems, additional employees are placed on administrative leave, and the agency’s newly appointed chief of staff resigned as the Elon Musk-led agency works to assert control over the USAID, which oversees foreign aid, disaster relief and international development programs.

Whenever there is a new president they appoint new people. They do not usually go into this much detail.

 

[Diamond72]

Yes. We had the presence of mind to vote for Harris. This nightmare was signed up for by Trump voters.

Trump got the same number of votes he got last time with Biden. Harris is the one that did not get as much support as Biden had.

 

[Vambram]

'Viper's nest': USAID accused of corruption, mismanagement long before Trump admin took aim

The U.S. Agency for International Development is facing a reckoning under the second Trump administration following years of allegations of mismanagement of funds.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Vambram]

Rubio says 'no choice' but to bring USAID 'under control' after agency takeover: 'rank insubordination'

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in an exclusive interview with Fox News, sounded off on USAID's "rank insubordination" shortly after proclaiming himself head of the embattled agency.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Vambram]

Alleged USAID whistleblower claims bureaucrats ‘got away with far too much’ as DOGE cracks down on agency | Fox News Video

Alleged USAID whistleblower Dr. Mark Moyar reveals what he saw inside the agency and what he has experienced since speaking out on ‘Hannity.’

www.foxnews.com

I am a USAID whistleblower. I've got to admit, Musk is mostly right about agency's waste

Let's be honest, everyone who works at USAID knows about the appalling waste and occasional malevolence that happens within the aid-industrial complex.

www.foxnews.com

 

[wing2000]

White House is lying:

Eleven out of 12 claims about the agency’s work are misleading, wrong or lack context.

In fiscal year 2023, USAID was appropriated about $25 billion by Congress, according to foreignassistance.gov. (The website in recent days has been changed to combine USAID spending with foreign aid distributed by the State Department, so the combined total is nearly $39 billion.) The White House identified only about $12 million in grants — one of which was $6 million — though one allegation vaguely claimed “hundreds of millions of dollars.” Upon inspection, that turned out to be from 2005 to 2008.


As a reader service, we examined these line items, as they have spread across social media. By eliminating USAID’s website, the administration made harder to ascertain the details of some of these programs. But we determined that, as framed by the White House, only one claim — out of 12 — was accurate. After we highlighted key errors in the statement to the White House, we received a statement from spokeswoman Anna Kelly: “This waste of taxpayer dollars underscores why the president paused foreign aid on day one to ensure it aligns with American interests.”

https://wapo.st/4jMJy3g

 

[Fantine]

Catholic Relief Services lost $1.8 billion. USAID distributes many finds through well-respected heavily audited private charities.

 

[Vambram]

Rwandan President praises ‘unconventional’ Trump, says ‘we might learn some lessons’ with USAID shutdown

Rwandan President Paul Kagame responded to President Donald Trump's calls to shut down a massive US government aid program that has paid out millions of dollars to his country.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Fantine]

I think I have misjudged Musk. It was not cruelty or callousness that has caused him to gut USAid.

Instead it seems to be their probe into his Starlink business:

During a hearing at the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability in September, USAID Inspector General Paul K. Martin told Congress that the agency was examining its relationship with Starlink, one of Musk's most prominent tech ventures.

In 2022, USAID and Starlink collaborated to provide 5,000 Starlink terminals to Ukraine, to give the country fighting Russian invasion access to Musk's advanced internet system, operated through SpaceX, as reported by The Lever.

"In addition to another ongoing audit on direct budget support, we are examining USAID's Energy Security Project, USAID's oversight of Starlink Satellite Terminals provided to the Ukrainian government, and USAID's efforts to protect against sexual exploitation and abuse in Ukraine," Martin told Congress. Alleged USAID probe into Starlink raises Elon Musk conflict concerns

So perhaps it is just "vengeance," something Musk might call "business."

An ethical individual would recuse himself from such a decision.

 

[iluvatar5150]

I think I have misjudged Musk. It was not cruelty or callousness that has caused him to gut USAid.

Instead it seems to be their probe into his Starlink business:



So perhaps it is just "vengeance," something Musk might call "business."

An ethical individual would recuse himself from such a decision.

I’ve heard a couple different tech journalists point to Musk’s being butthurt for being snubbed by Biden’s EV summit as a significant mile in his shift to the right. I don’t know how much weight to put in this Starlink thing, but everything about him screams “petulant manchild.”