In his attempt to expose the corruption of the Biden administration, Donald Trump appointed Elon Musk the head of DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency. Its primary target was immediately identified as the USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development. While the agency’s objective is clearly implied by its title, Musk declared it to be rife with corruption and Trump suspended its operation for 90 days. Similarly FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is under threat of being cancelled for spending millions on Woke projects considered inconsistent with its fundamental purpose.
The internet is rife with dozens of articles both complimenting and excoriating Trump for his actions. As both sides are prone to exaggerating if not lying in support of their agenda, it is difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. What does seem obvious, however, is that while Trump is justified in questioning the expenditures of the agencies in question, their designated purposes are worthy of pursuit. I shall try to be brief in exposing the complexities of this issue.
Founded in 1979 by Jimmy Carter, FEMA is responsible for dealing with disasters within the U.S.. Trump claims it spent over 1 billion dollars during the Biden years in accommodating the needs of illegal aliens. Musk says 1 week alone saw 59 million go to sheltering the latter in N.Y.C. hotels! Their point, of course, is that such funds were intended to assist tax paying American citizens in their hours of need. Indeed each has expressed outrage over the decidedly inadequate response of FEMA to the devastation wrought upon Southeastern States by Hurricane Helene in 2024. While I certainly agree that U.S. citizens ought to be the first priority of their elected governments, I cannot imagine any civilized nation allowing thousands to die of exposure to the elements simply because they had entered the country illegally. But the dilemma facing FEMA was clearly the fault of Joe Biden who allowed over 10 million “illegals” into the country while utterly unable to satisfy their basic needs. FEMA’s expenditures on “illegals,” therefore, while no doubt rooted in genuine compassion, would seem to have as much to do with a desire to obfuscate the pragmatic absurdity of the border policy pursued by Biden throughout his four years in office.
Democrat Ilhan Omar was outraged that funding from USAID had been suspended, saying that the agency’s assistance saved her family from extinction during 1993’s Somali Civil War. Since 2023, USAID has apparently spent over 2 billion dollars in an attempt to rescue that country from its socioeconomic squalor. As humanitarian aid and development assistance are the agency’s defined goals, such expenditures would seem justified. But various critics of a “conservative” bent point out that billions have been spent over the years on utterly non-essential issues of a political nature. Apparently, for example, 5.4 million dollars went to Uganda in an attempt to bolster LGBTQ rights there, while 11.75 million found its way to Nepal in support of DEI ideology. These numbers pale before the 122.5 million dispatched to Afghanistan to counter the gender based violence tolerated under the Taliban. Aside from the ideological inanity of DEI, each of the other two agendas are clearly worthy of pursuit. The question for critics, however, is whether the U.S. is responsible for the cultural values of every other nation on the planet, and whether it can in fact fiscally afford to be so.
As of Feb. 14, America’s national debt stood at 36.22 trillion dollars. In 2024 the Biden government spent 1.83 trillion more than it collected in taxes, etc.. This amounted to an increase of 138 billion in deficit spending over the previous year. Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch declared that not only was the U.S. broke, but that Donald Trump’s proposed spending cuts might in fact save America’s Democracy. Underlying his logic, of course, is the Economic Fact that a country can’t simply print more money to cover its debt without devaluing the dollar, thereby increasing the living expenses of every citizen in its jurisdiction.
Most of the international expenditures of the USAID were, as I have already said, devoted to worthy causes. Yet the Geller Report of Feb. 6 claimed that the agency has given millions to various news agencies of a Leftist bias, entities such as The N.Y. Times, The Associated Press, Politico, Reuters, etc.. Indeed speculation has it supporting over 700 such news outlets across the planet. Even Leftist billionaire George Soros apparently received money from the USAID! While there is no doubt some truth to these charges, the seeming absurdity of others highlights the intense loathing that unfortunately separates the Left from the Right. A Blaze article of Feb. 7 stated that Chelsea Clinton had been gifted 84 million from the USAID. Almost immediately this was countered by the eminently credible assertion that any money directed at the Clintons had gone to their non-profit, philanthropic foundation rather than to Chelsea herself. Bizarrely, further reading led me to the claim that no money whatsoever had been given to that foundation! As I have said repeatedly, the “conservatism” I embrace is rooted in Reason. Not surprisingly, the Trump/Musk attack on the USAID, while certainly justified to come extent, is not entirely rational!
Musk has famously said that the USAID is not an apple infested with worms but rather “a bowl of worms” rife with Neo-Marxist Leftists who hate America. While his implication is that it needs to be abolished, others, including some Republicans, see the 90 day suspension of its activities as an unwarranted threat to both the welfare of millions across the planet as well as the lives of the thousands employed by the agency. On Feb. 14, a federal judge put a halt to Trump’s action pending further legal inquiries. But at the same time the resistance of the USAID and other federal agencies [the Dept.s of Labour, Education, Health and Human Services, etc.] to Musk’s demand for “transparency,” suggests they may in fact have something to hide! On Feb. 18 Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan granted DOGE access to the data systems of those under suspicion, while at the same time allowing that Musk’s intentions were “concerning” and “troubling.” Her comments reflect the complexities of a situation in which those under attack by Trump may in fact have wasted billions in the pursuit of their “woke” agenda, while his tactic in attempting to expose them would seem to be typically rash and ill thought out!
On Feb. 18 The Blaze reported that Musk’s DOGE, in attempting to examine the expenditures of Biden’s Treasury Department, had discovered 4.7 trillion dollars whose destination was unknown due to the department’s failure to enforce the proper procedural protocols. In the States and indeed here in Canada, it would seem, loathing for populism, i.e., loathing for the “common man,” has led Leftist Elitist governments to believe they can pursue their woke agendas with no accountability whatsoever. The American deficit is insane. The country clearly needs to devote more of its tax dollars to law enforcement [more cops, courts and prisons], housing, health care, emergency aid, etc.. Trump’s attack on the billions spent on initiatives that in no way benefit those who supplied the funds, would seem to entail a defence of Democracy rather than an attempt to destroy it. Yet the brash manner in which he has proceeded certainly justifies the charge that he has little respect for due process. One can only hope that the checks and balances of the American system deter either side from abusing their authority in the future. The judicial ruling that Trump could not suspend the USAID by simply snapping his fingers, coupled with the decision to allow Musk’s DOGE to investigate the spending habits of various agencies, would seem to suggest that those checks and balances continue to function with a credible degree of integrity.