Foreign aid, as a facet of government spending, has long been faced with severe scrutiny, with every side of the political spectrum offering their critiques. Some are opposed to the United States sending billions of dollars to support military actions in countries such as Israel or Ukraine. Others are concerned with where exactly this money is coming from — typically those who already worry about the United States’ ever-expanding federal debt.
Republican politicians and their supporters have long disagreed over the use of federal funding for global projects that aim to provide healthcare, promote democracy and support non-governmental organizations in dozens of countries. Where, to whom and how foreign assistance is distributed has endless possibilities, but as of late, the dispensation of humanitarian aid has been under attack.
Affectionately named after the famous meme of a bemused-looking Shiba Inu, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has been tasked by Trump to cut down on federal spending. A temporary contracted government organization scheduled to end in early July, DOGE is not an official government department, meaning that it functions to advise, not decide.
Musk has hired about 100 staff to assist in his demolition of federal agencies. DOGE’s staff, who are unpaid ”special government employees,” do not have to go through the rigorous federal selection process; they are not elected like members of Congress, and many have not been publicly named by Musk.
Despite the complete lack of uniformity or regulation in the hiring process — Musk is essentially able to bring on whoever he wishes, including at least three staffers who have connections to his businesses — DOGE’s team has already gained access to sensitive data. Multiple lawsuits have been brought against DOGE from government watchdog groups, federal employee unions and individual states, pointing to worries about the organization’s access to government data like the Treasury Department’s payment system.
In line with the Trump administration’s swift attacks on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, DOGE has apparently done away with 20 “DEI training grants totaling $101mm” within the Department of Education, according an X post by the DOGE account Feb. 10. But, as is typical in this new political climate, there currently is no verified evidence of this claim besides the post.
Alongside attacks on DEI, DOGE has made the distribution of foreign aid one of its prime targets, aiming to completely eliminate the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID. Established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, USAID has long delivered both technical and financial assistance to bolster a multitude of humanitarian aid projects in over 100 countries.
Although USAID employs around 10,000 people, the majority of work done abroad is executed by organizations that are funded by the agency, aiming to provide healthcare, combat food insecurity, expand children’s education, supply clean water, and “assist U.S. commercial interests by supporting developing countries’ economic growth. In 2023, USAID spent around $40 billion on international aid, around 0.6% of the U.S.’s annual government spending of nearly $7 trillion. Doing away with USAID has terrible consequences, such as the erasure of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a program that serves millions of HIV patients in sub-Saharan Africa.
During an Oval Office event with Trump on February 12th, Musk was confronted about a misleading claim made by the White House in late January: that DOGE has stopped the sending of $50 million, later inflated to $100 million, worth of condoms to the Gaza Strip. A claim that should’ve raised eyebrows for most — USAID didn’t fund or provide any condoms in the Middle East in 2021, 2022, and 2023 — was initially peddled by Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. Unsurprisingly, this information was completely false — USAID funded HIV/AIDS prevention programs in Gaza Providence, Mozambique, not in occupied Palestine, and certainly not to Hamas.
When confronted about this inaccuracy, Musk said, “Some of the things I say will be incorrect and should be corrected.” He’s not wrong — Musk is known to consistently circulate misinformation. He followed up with, “I’m not sure we should be sending $50 million dollars in condoms to anywhere, frankly… But, if it went to Mozambique instead of Gaza, I’m like, ‘OK, that’s not as bad,’ but still, why are we doing that?” The fact that one man can question whether or not vulnerable communities deserve access to lifesaving healthcare, then have the power to wound these initiatives by pulling their funding essentially unchecked, is incredibly disheartening.
Weaponizing a global health crisis as a method for fear-mongering and spreading misinformation about the functions of USAID is only one example of the Trump’s administration and DOGE’s assault on foreign aid. Others lies include USAID funding a “transgender opera” in Columbia, a “DEI musical” in Ireland and a “transgender comic book” in Peru.
Pulling back this assistance has been done in the name of reducing frivolous government spending and putting Americans first. But the destruction of USAID and other programs actually does the opposite: in a flash, they have cause irreparable harm to the lives of American government employees and have left thousands scrambling to adjust.
By ordering all foreign assistance to be put on hold as an effort to focus on this “America First” policy, Trump and DOGE have effectively put America last — last in respect for its government employees and last in having the world’s respect. From a geopolitical standpoint, pulling these programs reduces the “soft power,” the ability to influence others in order to benefit from any outcomes, that allows the U.S. to gain from the political, economic and social conditions of many countries.
Yes, there should be criticism of the government’s intentions in funding USAID initiatives, and we should consider that these efforts inevitably help bolster U.S. global power. Some of the countries that benefit from USAID are victims of U.S. colonization, imperialism and military influence — actions which further exacerbate issues that are eventually “solved” by the same powers who created them in the first place. However, it is naïve to believe that our current political oligarchs genuinely care about where the American taxpayers money goes, especially when they have never experienced the struggles of the working and middle classes.
It is important to continue noticing what exactly is being deemed “unnecessary” when it comes to government spending. International humanitarian aid and DEI are the first targets; next will be the support of unions, the distribution of welfare benefits, and the end of public education as we know it.
Pay attention to how marginalized groups are being abandoned and increasingly discriminated against seemingly at the drop of a hat. Those who believed themselves to be untouchable by the actions of their new president are certainly next in line to lose what they thought they never could.
