osted by Brian Handly
Just received this from friend who is working overseas with USAID:
I have worked at the agency for 16 years, and around 7pm last night, I lost access to the USAID network. I was not told if I am being fired, or am being put on “admin leave,” if that is indeed what is happening. Broad swaths of the USAID workforce (~600 American employees) have lost access in the past 18 hours and those that still have access were emailed at 12:43 am that headquarters is closed today by a non-government official working under the guise of DOGE.
You should be terrified by what’s going on here. I certainly am - for myself and my career, my family, my colleagues, and for the people we serve around the world. Regardless of who you voted for, you didn't vote for this.
1. Stopping the work of USAID doesn’t put “America First,” it cedes the international space to China and Russia, who are more than happy to fill the gaps - we have seen this happening for years. The stronger the relationship between other countries and China/Russia, the less influence the US has.
2. Our work also directly mitigates the risk of international terrorism. In many parts of the world, young populations that don’t see a stable or hopeful future for themselves are highly susceptible to recruitment by terrorist groups that can promise a job, food, and a network of like-minded individuals. The same is true for international migration - we absolutely see more migrants when their home is unsafe or unstable.
3. There is an ebola outbreak in Uganda right now - USAID has a team working to contain the spread, and that team has been hamstrung by both the programmatic pause and personnel actions currently underway. Preventing the spread of the disease at its origin/outbreak prevents it from arriving in the United States.
4. USAID programs create stable markets for U.S. businesses and strengthen our supply chains. Additionally, the current course of action is leading to an estimated 50,000 American jobs lost domestically.
5. We have Americans currently working in places like Ukraine and Somalia who, without network access, have been arbitrarily cut out of the Embassy’s security infrastructure, placing these individuals at even greater personal physical risk, for purely political reasons.
6. The Executive Branch doesn’t have the authority to dismantle an entire agency, only Congress has the power to approve the modification/merger of USAID or its closure. This cannot legally be done by the Executive Branch.
7. The individuals carrying out these changes do not all have security clearances, are not on the government payroll, and are forcing themselves into spaces and systems that contain classified information and data on personnel and program recipients across agencies, putting all at greater risk of security breaches and theft of personal identifying information, breaking every state's privacy protection laws.
8. USAID is the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the executive branch - if they’re willing to come after USAID, and it is less than 1% of the federal budget, what are they going to do with the other agencies?
9. This is literally the richest man in the world trying to cut off aid to the poorest people in the world.
I am specifically and directly asking you to pass this along to your families and networks, especially outside of DC.