Elon Musk’s DOGE is signaling the end of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The USAID website is currently down, and employees have been locked out of computer systems.
USAID has a controversial history, and has been accused of imperialism by the left and waste and corruption by the right. In a previous article discussing National Security Study Memorandum 200, I highlighted one of these issues: a government document which proposed utilizing USAID (among other levers) to lower the population in developing countries under the guise of providing aid.
Many defenders of USAID argue that the fiscal concern behind Musk’s offensive is overblown because the agency represents less than 1% of the federal budget.
However, the fact that USAID is a small part of the budget gives us no information on whether or not it should be removed. In fact, it’s likely one of the best places to start slashing government spending. Why?
Yes, why go for such a little, low-hanging fruit? Well, it is the same as starting any new venture, you start small and work your way up. USAID is only a very small percentage of the budget, so it is a good place to go to to get your sea-legs and figure out if you can do more or you are going to get stop-blocked. If DOGE and Trump can pull this off they can move to the next and after that the next and pretty soon the Dept of Ed. Is shut down and the military has a 50% cut. As they say, the longest journey starts with one step.