The Pros and Cons of a USAID-State Department Merger
The Trump administration is trying to put a huge dent in deep state corruption.
The United States Agency for International Development is in hot water and might be getting shut down for good. President John F. Kennedy established USAID in 1961 as an independent agency to oversee humanitarian efforts, development, and security for 121 countries.
It seems like USAID might be a really good agency that provides food to the hungry and assists countries in need. Sadly, whatever the original intent of the agency, it has since been badly diverted. Only 10% of its $40 billion budget is dispersed for actual needs. How is the rest of the money spent?
Well, that’s been an open question in Congress for years now. USAID funded the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where COVID-19 almost certainly originated. That partnership ended in 2019. I wonder why?
.@RandPaul Asks Samantha Power: ‘Did USAID Fund Coronavirus Research In Wuhan China?’
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) February 2, 2025
“Should we be funding the Academy of Military Medical Research in China? …Some of the research proposals in 2018 were the Wuhan Insitute of Virology asking for money to create a virus with a… pic.twitter.com/SZ53PzWKnq
President Donald Trump has dismissed dozens of USAID top brass for being insubordinate. Then, over the weekend, he sicced the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on USAID. Consequently, more than 600 workers were locked out of the computer systems.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been named as acting head of the agency. The eventual plan for USAID is to cull it and roll what’s worth keeping into the State Department. Rubio expressed his frustration with the uncooperative efforts of USAID, saying: "My frustration with USAID goes back to my time in Congress. It’s a completely unresponsive agency. It’s supposed to respond to policy directives of the State Department and it refuses to do so. Every dollar we spend and every program we fund will be aligned with the national interest of the United States. USAID has a history of sort of ignoring that and deciding that they’re somehow a global charity separate from the national interests. These are taxpayer dollars.”
So, is this a good move?
The Pros
The Trump administration is eliminating what has become a slush fund for the deep state. Moreover, absorbing USAID into the State Department will have the added benefit of actual oversight.
Where will those saved pennies go? Well, hopefully, toward reducing the federal deficit.
Ultimately, hobbling USAID cuts off the Democrats from using this arm of the deep state to bolster their pet causes. As Hot Air’s David Strom reports: “USAID is part of the government to NGO to politician to foundations money laundering scheme. It worked closely with the Clinton Foundation on Haiti recovery, and we all know how that worked out. USAID partnered with Burisma when Hunter Biden was on the board, funneled money to the Chinese MILITARY for biological research, and uses ‘humanitarian’ programs as covers for political subversion activities.”
The Cons
USAID is a front group for the Central Intelligence Agency. It allows the CIA to move into countries and wield influence. Removing that inroad leaves open the possibility for Russia and China to fill the gap. China, in particular, is always looking to write a big check if it thinks it can get the upper hand.
Furthermore, according to Democrats, targeting USAID is unconstitutional. This claim has been put forth by the Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who penned the following:
Congress established the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as an independent agency, separate from the Department of State, to ensure that we can deploy development expertise and U.S. foreign assistance quickly, particularly in times of crisis, to meet our national security goals. For this reason, any effort to merge or fold USAID into the Department of State should be, and by law must be, previewed, discussed, and approved by Congress.
Other congressional Democrats have threatened to hold up additional State Department nominations should USAID be dismantled.
There is, however, much to be said about Democrats being this aggressive about an agency getting demolished. It indicates that President Trump is right over the target.
Final Thoughts
This move by the Trump administration is getting international attention from both enemies and allies. Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev, a close adviser to dictator Vladimir Putin, said, “Smart move by @elonmusk, trying to plug USAID’s Deep Throat. Let’s hope notorious Deep State doesn’t swallow him whole.”
President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador stated that most countries don’t want USAID money because it usually opens the door to other undesirable developments like destabilization if those countries don’t submit to the globalist agenda.
Most governments don’t want USAID funds flowing into their countries because they understand where much of that money actually ends up.
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) February 2, 2025
While marketed as support for development, democracy, and human rights, the majority of these funds are funneled into opposition groups, NGOs… pic.twitter.com/bXpdK29zH5
So, while friend and foe alike celebrate the dissolution of USAID, the American people are likely the ultimate beneficiaries of this action.
