Member-only story
Musk’s Attack on USAID Leaves Christian Charities in the Lurch
The problem with taking a sledgehammer to government
Elon Musk and his “DOGE” team dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development over the past week.
Apparently, neither the Department of Government Efficiency nor anyone in the Trump administration anticipated the impact on Christian charities.
I wonder how the Evangelicals who voted for Trump feel about it.
Why Is USAID Being Targeted?
USAID funds humanitarian assistance around the world, a clear violation of the “America First” platform on which Trump campaigned. Although its budget accounts for less than 1% of the total U.S. government’s budget, Elon Musk thinks that money is being wasted. He went so far as to call USAID “evil,” while Trump described the agency’s leadership as “radical lunatics.”
In truth, USAID is the low-hanging fruit for Trump and Musk’s vision of fundamentally reshaping the U.S. Federal government. Few members of Congress care about an agency that funnels money into programs to prevent malaria and treat HIV in Africa, to resettle refugees from Afghanistan, to provide healthcare to migrants, and so on.