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Posted on 10/10/2026 1:54:13 AM PDT by Mount Athos
Under President Donald Trump, Elon Musk's DOGE effort and the White House have accomplished what conservatives long dreamed to do but never achieved: substantially dismantling America's foreign aid agency.
The shrunken U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), while it hasn't been officially wiped out by Congress, will be difficult to revive under future administrations and will be "less attractive" for future bureaucrats, former USAID special government employee, Mike Benz told Just the News.
"Even if you turn the apparatus back on, there will be a slower ramp-up simply because I think the precarious nature of it, knowing it might be turned off again four years after that, makes a career at USAID inherently less attractive because of the political thin ice that it now sits on," said Benz, who aided the Trump administration in investigating the agency.
"There has been a kind of shock and awe message sent to the class of electioneers and subversive influence types, insofar as many of them had spent 10, 20, 30 years at USAID and had built their careers around that being a permanent position," he added.
Trump’s second-term review of USAID uncovered spending that officials said advanced diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and other projects disconnected from core national interests, prompting the cancellation of most of the agency’s work.
On Inauguration Day, Trump signed Executive Order 14169, freezing foreign assistance for a 90-day assessment. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) then examined USAID contracts.
By March 2025 the administration had terminated roughly 83% of the agency’s programs, and on July 1 remaining functions were absorbed into the State Department, according to a KFF timeline of the reorganization.
A White House release cited $1.5 million to advance DEI in Serbian workplaces, $2 million for sex changes and LGBT activism in Guatemala, millions directed to EcoHealth Alliance — the nonprofit tied to Wuhan Institute of Virology research of COVID-19 — and hundreds of thousands of meals that reached al-Qaeda-affiliated fighters in Syria.
An August 2025 pocket rescission later canceled additional billions the administration said had funded climate, DEI and LGBTQ activities of no value to taxpayers.
Problems predated the review. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction documented between $26 billion and $29 billion in waste, fraud and abuse across two decades of reconstruction spending, including failed opium-eradication efforts and infrastructure projects that collapsed, in its final accounting.
Lawmakers had also raised repeated concerns about contractor overhead and diversion risks in conflict zones long before the 2025 freeze.
In an October 2024 letter, Sen. Tom Cotton warned USAID Administrator Samantha Power of the “likely misuse of more than one billion dollars” in Gaza humanitarian aid and cited the agency inspector general’s findings of “shortcomings and vulnerabilities” in partner vetting that could let funds reach terrorists, urging an immediate suspension.
A separate USAID Office of Inspector General review found the agency lacked complete systems to track or document indirect costs charged by contractors and grantees from fiscal 2016 to 2021, leaving overhead charges difficult to verify.
Congress alone can dismantle USAID, which it created as an independent agency permanently in 1998, after President John F. Kennedy created it by executive order in 1961.
Lawmakers could abolish it by statute, as H.R. 1029 would by barring funds for its functions and shifting assets to the State Department.
They could also zero its accounts in annual foreign operations appropriations or cancel prior spending via rescissions, as in the Rescissions Act of 2025, which cut billions from foreign aid.
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Good should have killed off a long time ago.
Since President John F. Kennedy established the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in 1961, the United States has allocated an estimated $1 trillion to $1.2 trillion in total taxpayer-funded economic and development assistance (adjusted to constant inflation-adjusted dollars).
Because USAID shares or co-manages multiple foreign aid accounts directly with the Department of State, exact historical totals for only USAID are highly complex. However, a precise breakdown of how these tax dollars have been distributed reveals the scale of the agency’s funding:
1. Cumulative Breakdown by Era
The U.S. government tracks foreign aid using current dollars (what was spent at the time) and constant dollars (adjusted for modern inflation):
• The Cold War & Early Years (1961–1990s): During its initial decades, USAID focused on anti-communist infrastructure, the Vietnam War, and the Alliance for Progress in Latin America. Spending averaged roughly $10 billion to $25 billion per year (in today’s money).
• The Modern Era (2001–Present): Following the September 11 attacks, funding scaled up significantly due to stabilization programs in Iraq and Afghanistan, alongside the launch of massive global health initiatives. Between 2001 and 2024, USAID managed an average budget of $23 billion per year.
2. Recent Annual Budgets
To see where modern tax dollars are going, the agency’s annual allocations fluctuate based on global crises:
• FY 2023: Total U.S. economic and development aid reached roughly $43.8 billion specifically channeled through USAID (with the remaining foreign aid distributed by State and Defense).
• FY 2024: USAID managed more than $35 billion in combined appropriations.
• FY 2025: Net isolated spending for USAID was roughly $18.9 billion, representing about 0.3% of the overall federal budget.
3. Contextualizing Your Tax Dollars
While the overall cumulative trillion-dollar lifetime span sounds large, foreign aid is a very minor part of federal outlays:
• Under 1%: Total foreign assistance typically accounts for less than 1% of the annual U.S. federal budget.
• Primary Targets: Roughly 60% of USAID funding targets global health (like HIV/AIDS prevention) and humanitarian assistance (disaster and famine relief), with the remainder funding economic development, governance, and education.
•
Congress.gov
U.S. Agency for International Development: An Overview
In FY2024 (the most recent year for which complete data are available), USAID managed more than $35 billion in combined appropriations.
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction documented some
$26-29 Billion in waste, fraud and abuse in two decades of spending, including:
<><>failed opium-eradication efforts
<><>infrastructure projects that collapsed.
Lawmakers also raised repeated concerns about contractor overhead
and diversion risks in conflict zones long before the 2025 freeze.
In an October 2024 letter, Sen. Tom Cotton urged an immediate
suspension, warning USAID Administrator Samantha Power of:
<><>the “likely misuse of more than one billion dollars” in Gaza humanitarian aid
<><>citing the agency IG’s findings of “shortcomings and vulnerabilities” in partner vetting
<><>allowing tax dollars to reach terrorists,
A separate USAID Office of Inspector General review found:
<><>the agency lacked complete oversight systems
<><>failed to track indirect costs by contractors and grantees (in fiscal 2016 to 2021),
<><>overhead tax dollar charges were difficult to verify.
Trump’s second-term review of USAID uncovered quirky spending:
<><>advanced diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs
<><>other projects disconnected from core national interests,
<><>$1.5 million to advance DEI in Serbian workplaces,
<><>$2 million for sex changes and LGBT activism in Guatemala,
<><>millions directed to EcoHealth Alliance —
<><>EcoHealth is the nonprofit tied to Wuhan Institute of Virology research of COVID-19
<><>hundreds of thousands of meals that reached al-Qaeda-affiliated fighters in Syria.
<><>this prompted the cancellation of most of the agency’s work.
An August 2025 Trump pocket rescission later canceled additional tax dollar
billions that funded climate, DEI and LGBTQ activities of no value to taxpayers.
Now, do the United Nations.
Withdraw the U.S. from the organization, cut all funding to UN programs on day 1.
Boot the anti-U.S. thieves from U.S. soil, and remove all UN affiliated credentials & security clearances immediately.
Like most government agencies, USAID started small with good intentions.
Soviets were on offensive in third world, bribing all kind or nations to join the communist block. Little bit of money could turn country after country into leftist dictatorship in Soviet liking.
So giving similar bribes to other third word countries was cheap way to keep them in American orbit.
However after Soviet Union collapse, the agency, instead of dismantling, became this monster, wasting giant money on leftists projects abroad.
Interestingly, a lots of its money found ways back to the USA via all those nonprofits and became basis of left election cheating and all kind of leftist projects here.
Oh the horror!!!-sarc
One of the many,many reasons I voted for DJT...three times. I don't want my tax $$$ funding gay children's plays in Illinois *or* Upper Volta!
Anyone who’s served in the military and worked alongside federal workers knows what’s going on.
Yes.
Like the USAID, United nations was created by the USA to help spread US influence abroad.
Long time ago, UN was actually controlled by the USA, even fought the Korean war (US was technically just part of UN contingent helping to save Korea from the communists.), but eventually, it became dominated by the mass of socialist third world countries.
Like USAID, it wastes huge amount of money on useless projects and it is dominated by parasitic bureaucracy.
I think, now is time to dismantle UN or at least turn it back to its original roots.
Some kind of international debating club, stripped of all apparatus and projects.
Go back to that NYC building, and close everything else!
I learned 40 years ago what USAID was all about from an encounter with my best friend at Kansas State University. He had British and US citizenship and his father was employed by USAID in Botswana; I believe he was adjunct professor/instructor at KSU in Agricultural Economics
Picking his father up at airport I asked a lot of questions about what he did for the US in Africa. His answers did not seem a very American response (he is British) and after quite a few responses I asked if he and all his coworkers for USAID are communists. What they are doing in Africa, regarding agricultural economics, has been tried around the world to the starvation and dependence of the people buried in that approach.
He gave me a sideward glance and smirked. His response was we help other organizations do the work to promote independence of the workforce of those countries.
Only 18, I realized then the depth of what was happening internationally in the name of the US and the type of people managing the effort.
Since then, every time I read a report on an NGO overseas and USAID was involved I would tell my wife for the last 30 years don’t expect anything good from that outcome. The internet has allowed these connections to be readily discoverable now and what I found alarming was how engaged USAID was internally to the USA. I thought back then it was a CIA front spreading communism to the third world in the name of benevolence. Plus a large number of people employed are not US citizens.
And the money laundering to Leftist causes, globally, has been deeply restricted.
Democrats are demonic.
“Now, do the United Nations.
Withdraw the U.S. from the organization, cut all funding to UN programs on day 1.
Boot the anti-U.S. thieves from U.S. soil, and remove all UN affiliated credentials & security clearances immediately.”
And sell the UN building to someone who will turn it into condos.
“substantially dismantling America’s foreign aid agency.”
I don’t see the Agency for International Development (AID) as being an aid agency. Let’s not confuse a string of letters with reality.
“While the overall cumulative trillion-dollar lifetime span sounds large,”
A trillion here and a trillion there and eventually you’re talking about real money.
In f/y 2023, USAID distributed approximately $43.8 billion tax dollars in foreign
aid, which accounted for roughly 3 of every 5 dollars of total US foreign assistance.
• Total U.S. Foreign Assistance: In FY2023, total U.S. foreign assistance from all sources reached roughly $66.1 billion to $99.9 billion depending on the reporting metric (representing about 1% to 1.5% of the total federal budget).
• USAID’s Share: USAID managed around 61% of that overall foreign assistance portfolio.
• Per Taxpayer Cost: Funding USAID amounted to roughly $36 per average U.S. taxpayer annually.
• Recent Changes: In 2025, U.S. foreign aid structures and USAID operations underwent major policy shifts and reductions under the administration.
Historically, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employed around 5,000 locally hired foreign nationals (often referred to as Foreign Service Nationals or local staff) alongside roughly 8,000 U.S. direct-hire employees and contractors globally.
However, following sweeping cuts and an agency-wide shutdown initiative led by the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency starting in early 2025:
• Mass Reductions: The administration moved to cut and lay off virtually all direct-hire employees and thousands of local and contracted personnel, announcing plans to scale back remaining USAID-related functions to fewer than 300 total personnel.
• Local Staff Layoffs: Reports indicated that USAID human resources moved to issue layoff notices or terminate local foreign national staff across its international missions, as the agency’s core functions were drastically reduced or absorbed into the U.S. Department of State-——Reuters——
Why hasn’t Congress killed it?
The Congress no longer exists.
The Senate rule requiring 60 votes for passage has assured that such legislation can never pass.
The Republic has no defense against the political power of the City States that did not exist at the time of the founders
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