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Staffers and contractors who enactment with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were stunned and angered aft President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – the authorities accountability portion headed by billionaire Elon Musk – efficaciously unopen down the $40 cardinal bureau connected Monday.
One USAID staffer who wished to stay anonymous told Fox News Digital that 80% of unit crossed its bureaus learned they mislaid entree to the agency’s systems connected Monday morning, including travel, communications, classified accusation and databases – starring to questions astir however to repatriate American citizens successful immoderate of the astir unsafe places successful the satellite should the request arise.
Staffers besides consciousness they were "left precocious and dry" and "have nary thought what to bash oregon wherever to turn" aft being "abandoned by Congress and the government," the root said, adding they felt the bureau was "hostilely taken implicit by DOGE."
"The richest antheral successful the satellite is taking this distant from the poorest radical successful the world," the root said of Musk.
WHAT IS USAID AND WHY IS IT IN TRUMP'S CROSSHAIRS?
USAID was acceptable up successful the aboriginal 1960s to enactment connected behalf of the U.S. to present assistance crossed the globe, peculiarly successful impoverished and underdeveloped regions. The Trump medication alleges that overmuch of the spending has been wasteful, promoting a wide docket astir the world.
DOGE has peculiarly criticized a $1.5 cardinal program slated to "advance diversity, equity and inclusion successful Serbia's workplaces and concern communities" and a $70,000 programme for a "DEI musical" successful Ireland.
Democrats antagonistic that the bureau plays a captious relation successful U.S. nationalist information interests and accidental it should stay independent. They constituent to the enactment USAID did to antagonistic Soviet power during the Cold War – a sphere of power that could stay a interest amid China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
"It’s not a generosity project," the root said of USAID, "this is simply a nationalist information bureau and effort astatine its core" that "protects borders and cuts threats off," specified arsenic moving to incorporate Ebola and dispersing COVID vaccines to support specified threats extracurricular the U.S.
Musk has said that some helium and Trump "agreed" that the bureau should beryllium "shut down." Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has been named acting manager of the autarkic agency, connected Monday echoed the sentiment, telling reporters, "USAID is not functioning."
"It needs to beryllium aligned with the nationalist involvement of the U.S. They're not a planetary charity, these are payer dollars. People are asking elemental questions. What are they doing with the money?" Rubio continued. "We are spending taxpayers’ money. We beryllium the taxpayers assurances that it furthers our nationalist interest."
MUSK'S DOGE TAKES AIM AT ‘VIPER’S NEST' FEDERAL AGENCY WITH GLOBAL FOOTPRINT
The scope of enactment overseen by USAID is immense and ranges from administering overseas assistance done humanitarian efforts similar famine relief, cleanable h2o organisation programs, and aesculapian services, including administering polio vaccines, HIV/AIDS alleviation and prevention work. It besides bolsters democracy, quality rights and governance initiatives.
The root said the halt enactment bid has near medications for HIV and adjacent vaccines meant for organisation successful overseas regions sitting connected shelves, saying, "It has each stopped."
Steve Schmida, who runs planetary consulting steadfast Resonance, which competes for contracts with USAID, told Fox News Digital that the shutdown is impacting contractors successful the signifier of layoffs, furloughs and a simplification successful hours. He besides said the stop-work bid has prevented his employees from getting paid for enactment they’ve already done.
Schmida said DOGE is "controlling payments" by taking implicit the outgo system. He accused the Musk-led bureau of "intentionally defrauding us."
"If not stopped, it volition dispersed to the remainder of the government," Schmida said, adding that the Trump administration’s DOGE could usage its takeover of the outgo strategy arsenic "a limb against American citizens, denying Social Security and Medicare if they measurement retired of line."
Schmida said the overseas assistance assemblage recognizes and shares the tendency to betterment the system, stating it "could enactment a batch better," though helium urged the authorities to enactment toward betterment alternatively than the demolition of an bureau whose enactment has been built up implicit 7 decades.
Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
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