Trump's Attack on USAID Is Evil

A rebuke from the prophet Isaiah has been ringing in my ears the past few weeks: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (5:20).

This verse has come to mind as I’ve watched the chaotic — and arguably illegal— efforts of President Donald Trump and his administration to shrink and in some cases dismantle the federal government, especially at the U.S. Agency for International Development. With Trump’s blessing, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has created an unprecedented crisis at an agency that oversees lifesaving assistance to some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world. Despite issuing limited humanitarian waivers, the administration has frozen nearly all new foreign assistance funding for the next 90 days, fired many senior leaders, and put the entire agency’s staff of more than 10,000 people on leave, two-thirds of whom work in field locations around the world.

The impact of these actions is staggering. According to the Associated Press, freezing foreign aid and targeting USAID “has forced U.S. and international companies to shut down tens of thousands of programs globally, leading to furloughs, layoffs, and financial crises.” These cuts have immediate and dire consequences. USAID officials report these include stalling programs to control malaria in 24 of the hardest-hit African nations, stopping backup heating systems to schools and hospitals in Ukraine, and freezing life-saving programs for 145,000 vulnerable women in Afghanistan in need of safe houses, mental health counseling, health care, and vocational training. And those are just a few examples.

Through it all, Musk has demonstrated his contempt for USAID’s mission, promising to shut down an agency he’s decried as “evil” and a “criminal organization” that “needs to die.”

SojoMail_USAID_Musk

It is impossible for me to comprehend how USAID’s work around the world can be construed as “evil.” Every year, the agency helps feed many of the world’s hungriest people; saves millions of lives through its health, nutrition, and vaccination programs; and supports efforts to foster peacemaking and strengthen democracy around the world. As someone who has dedicated large portions of my career to combatting extreme poverty and advancing sustainable development, I’ve seen firsthand how USAID — often in partnership with U.S.-based nonprofits, including faith-based organizations such as World Vision and Catholic Relief Services — operates these critical programs in many of the most challenging places in the world. Ending USAID’s work around the world is both foreign policy malpractice and a deeply short-sighted economic move — not to mention a direct assault on the many commands from the Christian faith to love and protect the most vulnerable.

One argument the Trump administration has leveled against USAID is that it’s a waste of taxpayer money — an argument that no doubt appeals to the 60 to 70 percent of U.S. adults who think the government spends too much on assistance to other countries. But behind that argument are some longstanding misperceptions about foreign aid: Though many Americans believe foreign assistance makes up more than a quarter of the federal budget, in truth, the United States spends less than one percent of its budget on foreign assistance, or roughly $60 billion per year; that figure includes military support and about $40 billion in aid managed by USAID. Yet when Americans are asked how much they think the U.S. should spend on aid, on average, they say it should be about 10 percent.

But regardless of the amount, it’s true that any new administration has the prerogative to scrutinize the effectiveness of its programs, so let’s take the argument that foreign assistance is wasteful at face value. To sustain that argument, you’d have to do a cost-benefit analysis and find that the expense of the program isn’t worth what the program provides. And the fraction of the U.S. budget that we spend on foreign aid provides a lot: A few notable examples include an HIV/AIDS program that has been estimated to have saved 25 million lives; the President’s Malaria Initiative, that has helped prevent millions of malaria deaths; and vaccination programs that save an estimated 3 million lives each year. Do we really think these outcomes aren’t worth the fraction of our budget it takes to support them?

Yet in his “America First” agenda, Trump has repeatedly shown disdain for the impact of U.S. actions — consequences to the rest of the world notwithstanding. Instead, he promised voters he’d prioritize American self-interest. But even from this perspective, the argument against these programs falls apart: If safety is the goal, we should listen to more than 120 retired generals and admirals, who in 2017 called on Congress not to slash funding for diplomacy and foreign aid after the first Trump administration sought to make drastic cuts to these programs. In their letter they expressed a “strong conviction that elevating and strengthening diplomacy and development alongside defense are critical to keeping America safe.” 

And if protecting American foreign policy interests is the goal, then eliminating foreign aid, including poverty-focused development assistance, eliminates a key tool the U.S. has used to project its soft power around the world. In fact, USAID was originally created during the Cold War as a way to counter the influence of communism, which has evolved into programs that promote democracy and freedom around the world. 

I see strong economic and national security arguments for why aid is a critical investment. Yet, as a Christian, I find the moral and humanitarian argument most compelling. Our faith teaches us that God was willing to give far more than 1 percent of his resources to save the world — or as one oft-quoted verse puts it: “for God so loved the world that he gave us his only begotten son” (John 3:16). It is theological malpractice to act as though this love is only confined only to the United States, or to suggest that our love is purely sentimental versus showing up in tangible acts of compassion and justice.

While there no doubt could be ways to see if U.S. foreign aid programs could be made more effective, what Trump is doing with USAID is altogether different— and quite possibly illegal. Rather than try to make these programs more effective, he has moved to end USAID’s status as an independent agency despite the fact it was established as such by Congress in 1961.

This is a clear breach of executive authority, rooted in unconstitutional ideas that the president has the authority to unilaterally defy Congress and both restructure agencies and control legislatively approved spending. While the assault on USAID is heartbreaking, there is also a much greater precedent at stake in this fight that will determine whether Congress retains its core powers as a check against executive overreach and power grabbing. Musk and his DOGE team already have their sights set on dismantling the Department of Education with many more agencies at risk.

SojoMail_USAID_protest

As the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world, the United States has a moral imperative to protect human dignity and make things better for as many people as possible based on Jesus’ principle that “to whom much has been given, much is required” (Luke 12:48). For those of us who are motivated by our Christian faith, foreign assistance is also an important way we can encourage our society to act according to the moral priorities Jesus taught us in Matthew 25, when he explained that the way we treat people in the most vulnerable situations is how we treat Jesus himself. Just as Jesus never confined the boundaries of that commitment to Judea or Israel, neither should we confine our moral commitment to only 50 states.

I’m glad to see some Christians start to speak out against what’s happening at USAID: The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has urged Catholics across the country to contact their members of Congress to ask them to oppose the freeze. You can join Bread for the World in contacting your members of Congress calling on them to end the federal freeze on foreign aid.

We are not powerless. We can reject Trump’s immoral vision of “America First,” ensuring more lives are not lost and halting Trump’s abuse of power. But to do that, Christians of all stripes and ideological perspectives must join me in speaking out and taking action.