Key Points
- Trump wants to dismantle USAID
- Criticism and legal challenges
- Democrats term the move unconstitutional
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Friday called for USAID to be shut down, in an escalation of his unprecedented campaign to dismantle the massive government aid agency that has prompted confusion and chaos among its global network.
“The corruption is at levels rarely seen before. Close it down!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social app.
Trump, who started his second term last month, has launched a crusade led by his top donor and the world’s richest man Elon Musk to downsize or dismantle swaths of the US government.
The most concentrated fire has been on the United States Agency for International Development, the primary organisation for distributing US humanitarian aid around the world.
The Trump administration has already frozen foreign aid and ordered thousands of foreign-based staff to return to the United States, with reported impacts on the ground steadily growing.
On Thursday, a union official confirmed reports that the current USAID headcount of 10,000 employees would be reduced to around 300.
Labour unions are challenging the legality of the onslaught which includes offers of buyouts by Musk to federal workers across the entire government.
Democrats in Congress say it would be unconstitutional for Trump to shut down government agencies without the green light from the legislature.
Trump has also announced intentions to close the Department of Education.
Aid workers vilified
The United States’ current budget allocates about $58 billion for international assistance.
However, while Washington is the biggest aid donor in the world, the money has only amounted to between 0.7 and 1.4 percent of total US government spending in the last quarter century, according to the Pew Research Centre.
ALSO READ: Workers Sue Trump Administration Over USAID Cuts
USAID runs health and emergency programs in around 120 countries, including the world’s poorest regions.
It is seen as a vital source of soft power for the United States in its struggle for influence with rivals including China, where Musk has extensive business interests.
Hard-right Republicans and libertarians have long questioned the need for USAID and criticised what they say is wasteful spending abroad.
