Via Politico: ‘It will kill people’: Chaos, confusion after Trump halts US foreign aid.
“This ‘stop work’ order is cruel and deadly,” said Asia Russell, the executive director of Health GAP, a nonprofit working on access to HIV treatment in developing countries. “It will kill people.”
Many federal workers, from the Pentagon to the U.S. Agency for International Development, are confused by the wording of the order, such as what exactly could qualify for an exemption. In some cases, their ability to get information is being stymied: In a note to staff obtained by POLITICO, a top USAID official told employees they needed prior top-level approval to even talk to institutions outside of the agency.
“The pause on all foreign assistance means a complete halt,” Ken Jackson, USAID’s assistant to the administrator for management and resources wrote in an agency-wide email to some 10,000 employees. Jackson said “all communications outside the agency, including to the State Department, must be approved by the Agency Front Office.” Failure to do so, he wrote, would result in unspecified disciplinary action.
Some USAID officials said that prompted them to reconsider requesting waivers. One said that “anyone that contradicts [the stop-work order] is seen as obstructionist, so putting something forward for a waiver can be risky.” The person, like others in this story, requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue.
All of this comports with James Joyner’s post from Sunday and my observations regarding the dictatorial behavior of the administration about the firing of the IGs. Trump is not acting like a new head of government who understands that the government of the United States is bigger than he is, existed before he did, and will exist after he is gone. No, this is the behavior of a president and a cadre of supporters who think that the government is now theirs. This is not just an issue of policy differences. This is, again, dictating outcomes in the context of already appropriated monies and preexisting policy choices.
It is also all short-sighted and highly irresponsible.
Among the aid groups that appear affected are ones that remove landmines from conflict zones; provide testing and treatment for people with HIV in many African countries through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief; fund investigative reporting into Russian disinformation and organized crime networks; and tackle food insecurity worldwide.
To go along with the above we have, also via Politico, Top USAID career staff placed on immediate leave.
The Trump administration has ordered dozens of top career employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development to go on administrative leave, according to six people told of the decision.
The order — sent via email to members of the senior executive and senior Foreign Service — was issued close to the end of the business day Monday and was effective immediately, according to two current USAID officials and three former USAID officials told of the communication. It comes as USAID and the State Department have been ordered to impose halts on a vast number of humanitarian and related programs around the world.
The decision appears to affect nearly every career staffer who holds a top leadership role at the agency, at least in Washington — around 60 officials, the current and former officials said.
The cuts have left many offices within the agency entirely devoid of senior non-political leadership. The entire cadre of leaders who run USAID’s bureau for global health, for example, was put on leave, according to two of the officials.
So, yes, all of this is going to harm real people. And if one wants to ignore that the realpolitik of it all is that it harms the US national interest because things like USAID are how we project power and influence.
This is all foolish and irresponsible.
And it will all create even more anxiety for federal employees alongside a real human toll globally.
This is no way to govern.
But, no doubt many MAGAites will rejoice because they think that spending money abroad isn’t putting America first and that it is a massive savings (despite how little of the federal budget goes to foreign aid). And there is also the pesky fact that whatever money is saved here isn’t going to be spent on the American people anyway. The whole approach is built on lies.
