Doann Houghton-Alico - Poet, Activist, Humanist - PERSPECTIVE

The death of USAID murdered by Elon Musk: “Notification of Administrative Leave – As of 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 23, 2025, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs, will be placed on administrative leave globally. Concurrently, USAID is beginning to implement a Reduction-in-Force that will affect approximately 1,600 USAID personnel with duty stations in the United States. Individuals that are impacted will receive specific notifications on February 23, 2025, with further instructions and information about their benefits and rights. Designated essential personnel who are expected to continue working will be informed by Agency leadership February 23, 2025, by 5 p.m. EST. For overseas personnel, USAID intends a voluntary Agency-funded return travel program and other benefits. USAID is committed to keeping its overseas personnel safe. Until they return home, personnel will retain access to Agency systems and to diplomatic and other resources. In the coming week, we will provide details on how to retrieve personal items from the former USAID workspaces and return government issued devices. Additional guidance is forthcoming, and all future updates/notices will continue to be communicated through official USAID channels and posted on USAID.gov for those without access to USAID systems.”

Most Americans probably have no idea of what USAID did and why it was , and continues to be important. It was definitely not just a handout to poorer countries. In its own words: “The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is the principal U.S. agency to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms.” It was a major stabilizing force in an increasingly insecure and unsecure world. There’s no question that its programs should be reviewed for effectiveness, and they were. The agency is under the Secretary of State with its own reviews, plus it is funded by Congress, which conducts its reviews, and, of course, there was an Office of Inspector General for the agency that was primarily responsible for detailed oversight. The Trump administration shortsightedly got rid of the OIGs for most or all agencies and departments, presumably letting unelected, unvetted, unapproved Elon Musk get rid of whatever he wanted.

The result of the decimation of USAID is a humanitarian and worldwide destabilization disaster and a very significant risk to U.S. security and global interests.

USAID was established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy as a means to coordinate foreign assistance and to specifically counter Russian influence, ironically, during the Cold War. It’s been supported by both parties since then with the exception of Putin’s Puppet Trump.

According to a Brookings Institute Report, September 12, 2024: Foreign assistance falls into one of three basic categories:

Humanitarian assistance (food, medical care, shelter, security) for life-saving relief from natural and manmade disasters.
Development assistance that promotes the economic, social, and political development of countries and communities.
Security funding that helps strengthen the military, police, and other security forces of a country.

The relative proportions vary each year…[In] 2022 the split was: humanitarian assistance accounting for approximately one-quarter, development assistance for almost two-thirds, and security assistance less than one-fifth. Very little assistance is delivered as cash to governments, a recent exception being support for the government of Ukraine (the use of which is checked and rechecked) in response to the Russian invasion. Most funds for humanitarian and development assistance are provided through U.S., global, and local organizations and businesses.” The US has the highest dollar amounts among (what at least used to be) our allies and the developed world, but it has the lowest amount per GDP; and amounts to about 1% of the U.S. budget.

The “checked and rechecked” were the responsibility of the Office of Inspector General (OIG). “State OIG, in association with the DoD and USAID OIGs, recently issued the second Joint Strategic Oversight Plan addressing the Ukraine response. The FY 2024 Joint Strategic Oversight Plan reflects the U.S. government accountability community’s ongoing and planned oversight work related to the Ukraine response as well as Operation Atlantic Resolve, the contingency operation that includes support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.” So 3 OIJs were working on oversight of money sent to Ukraine, until the current administration got rid of OIGs. That’s a topic for another time, but clearly there was oversight.

The loss of USAID is not just political grandstanding by the Billionaire Pillagers now in charge of the Executive branch of our government, it is a specific cost in loss of life. I have been familiar with USAID work and employees including administrators of programs. The total lack of understanding of what this agency does and has accomplished by DOGE and, I suspect, many of the American people, is partly to blame for these current actions. I will go into more detail in the future, but now, the focus is on keeping it alive. A judge (with approval by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision) is requiring the U.S. to pay contractors to USAID for work already completed with money already approved by Congress. I remind you that the Executive branch of our government does NOT control funding; Congress does. Also another topic for another time.

According to Nicholas Enrich, former Acting Assistant Administrator for Global Health, USAID, [he was put on leave after he sent the memo] in an internal memo wrote: “The temporary pause on foreign aid and delays in approving lifesaving humanitarian assistance (LHA ) for global health will lead to increased death and disability, accelerate global disease spread, contribute to destabilizing fragile regions, and heightened security risks-directly endangering American national security, economic stability, and public health.” Diseases spread across borders. Certainly we learned that from Covid.

With the data he had access to, he was able to put some numbers to the potential results. Here’s a small sample:

Malaria: For 2025- An additional 12.5-17.9 million cases and an additional 71,000-166,000 deaths (39.1% increase) internationally, and 2000 cases imported into the U.S.

Immunization: For 2025- 2-3 million deaths, 89% increase in incidence in vaccine preventable diseases among children alone (best case scenario). Every dollar spent on immunization saves America an estimated $54 in social and economic costs.

But numbers don’t put a face on reality. Because it would be exploitative, crass, and in exceptionally bad taste, I’m not going to show photos of children dying from malaria or TB or starvation. Rather, I’ll introduce you to some of the kids I met during our circumnavigation in some of these more vulnerable countries and let you imagine what their futures might be.

The plot thickens as Hungary’s Prime Minister Victor Orban, an instigator of illiberal democracy (an oxymoron if ever there was one), and a Trump and Putin buddy, is assisting DOGE and Peter Marocco, the U.S. official detonating the agency internally, by making groups in Hungary receiving AID funds illegal, thus creating “criminal activity” within USAID. Beware of further lies coming from this incestuous relationship between DOGE and Hungary.

In a final blow, it appears their website has been shut down with only the memo of Notification of Administrative Leave showing.