Posted on 02/04/2025 1:24:35 PM PST by 11th_VA
WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's overhaul of U.S. foreign assistance has led to chaos in the aid and development field, leaving hundreds of contractors in a severe financial crunch with some already having to lay off staff and others facing millions of dollars in unpaid invoices. Hours after coming into office on Jan. 20, Trump ordered a sweeping review of almost all U.S. foreign aid and tasked billionaire Elon Musk, who has falsely accused USAID of being a "criminal" organization, with scaling down the agency.
Since then, dozens of USAID staff has been put on leave, hundreds of internal contractors have been laid off, while Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency employees have gutted the agency that is Washington's primary humanitarian arm, providing billions of dollars worth of aid worldwide. Blanket stop-work orders that were issued by the State Department have thrown the aid industry into panic, both at home and abroad as the contractors usually front the costs and then bill the U.S. government.
For Steve Schmida, co-founder of Vermont-based Resonance, a USAID contractor for many years working in areas such as innovation, fisheries conservation and trade and investment, the issue has become an "existential one" after the stop-work orders. "We had millions of dollars in invoices due to be paid that had been approved by our clients in the U.S. government...We quickly understood that this was a serious threat to our business," Schmida said...
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
"The last 10 days have been the worst 10 days of my professional life," said Schmida. The funding for some of his projects were granted during the first Trump administration.
The gravy train just went off the bridge.
Reuters sheds some tears.
Hours after coming into office on Jan. 20, Trump ordered a sweeping review of almost all U.S. foreign aid and tasked billionaire Elon Musk, who has falsely accused USAID of being a "criminal" organization, with scaling down the agency.
And just how, in a matter of two weeks, has the crack team of Rooters reporters made that determination of falsehood?
I guess they still think this crap works.
This guy needs to get a real job
I believe that ‘chaos’ is the democrat word of the week.
The “aid industry” is a scam run by virtue-signaling criminals. And since when is charity an industry?
“Steve Schmida, co-founder of Vermont-based Resonance, a USAID contractor for many years working in areas such as innovation, fisheries conservation and trade and investment”
Their website looks like a money laundering operation, a bunch of gobblely gook nonsense.
https://www.resonanceglobal.com/
The AID contractors and their subcontractors need full body cavity search audits.
This is all good news for tax paying American citizens. MAGA!
“Falsely” my Aunt Fanny.
Falsely? Really? I hate the bias from leftist terrorist reporters and news organizations. False news. USAID is a criminal front for funding international groups that don’t reflect our views and desires. Musk is right to accuse USAID of being a criminal front.
😆
poor things...
They had 100 employees - what the heck did they do ?
I guess they can learn to code
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