The poor of the world are cared for via the USAID programs - HIV-Aids, Maternal Child health programs/vaccinations for children, Ebola programs have stopped because the aid workers have been fired - thousands may die. If writing to your Congressperson about domestic program cuts, also mention the suffering and deaths that will occur with the cutoff of humanitarian programs. Vance, trump, Rubio and many GOP in Congress claim to be pro- life. This policy will lead to thousands of deaths. The bishops should tell all of the Catholics involved not to present themselves for communion.
Musk’s minions came into the USAID offices and took all the photos in the offices and hallways out of the frames. The photos in our friends project office were of children receiving medical care, mothers and children ( Maternal/Child health ), health clinics where AIDS/HIV meds were dispensed, including those to protect a child in the birth canal from being born with HIV from an infected mother, vaccines, etc, etc. Since there was no warning or time for an organized shut- down of the projects, they had no time to secure medical supplies and medications. She said it is likely that the remaining staff of local employees will be unable to prevent the theft of the supplies and medication and that they will be sold on the black market. This will happen at many project sites.
Trump has shut down funds for all international humanitarian work. Thousands of humanitarian aid experts are now out of work, having received stop work orders, including our French friend who has been doing health work in Francophone Africa for 24 years. Everyone she knows at different international NGOs has been fired with no severance pay. Jesuit Refugee Services overseas as well as Catholic Relief Services are no longer receiving funding from USAID.
A close friend of hers in NC runs a small project. She is from South Africa but has lived in the US for 25 years, working on USAID funded humanitarian projects in Africa. Once she closes everything in NC she plans to move back to South Africa. The US is no longer the country she came to - the values and programs that attracted her to come here are being systematically destroyed.
The US provides the most aid in monetary terms ( we have the biggest economy) but we contribute less than other countries as a percentage of GDP. Less than 1 %. Frequently less than 1/2%. A recent Brookings article explains it.
My weekly letter to my congressional reps was about Musk moving into the OPM. He has no authority to do anything. Anything he does do is trespass and tampering with gov property and functions. This should be a bipartisan issue. My letter:
ReplyDeleteDear Sen. Peters, Sen. Slotkin, and Rep. Barrett:
Please direct police officers to remove Elon Musk and/or his aides from the Office of Personnel Management immediately, and revoke their access to OPM databases.
The Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) is a fictional entity with no budget from Congress. Elon Musk, as its head, has not been duly appointed through an advise-and-consent hearing, and neither he nor his people have security clearances to access sensitive federal files. Their presence (including sofa beds, see Reuters, “Musk aides lock Office of Personnel Management workers out of computer systems” by Tim Reid, Feb. 1, 2025) constitute trespass on government property and tampering with official governmental functions.
Evict them immediately.
I accept that Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election. I accept that he has the right to appoint, with the consent of the Senate, any nut job to head federal agencies and to serve in his cabinet. I accept that he has the right to privately seek advice from any drug-addled individual in his family or circle of friends.
But I do not accept that Donald Trump has any right to circumvent constitutional channels, to institute new governmental departments without a vote of Congress, or to claim any jurisdiction over legitimate government employees thereby rendering them incapable of doing the jobs that my tax dollars pay them to do.
Your attention to this matter is greatly appreciated, and I request the favor of a reply about this specific situation from your office.
Very sincerely etc.
Great letter. I might copy it. Our senators and most representatives are Dems, but I’ll send it to them as well as the few that represent Marylands MAGA districts ( rural, of course)
DeleteThey Musks minions also wanted access to the Treasury Depts data bases too. When that was denied by the acting Sec of Treasury (until the new guy was appointed), he resigned from the govt.
The WSJ has pretty well documented Musk's use of LSD, mushrooms, marijuana, and ketamine for depression and recreation. He certainly hasn't made a secret of his drug use nor of his being on the autism spectrum. Taking photos of children and others receiving US assistance out of the picture frames seems pretty much on par with the dead-eyed reptiles he and his associates aspire to be.
DeleteThe Musk thing bothers me more than almost anything else that the new administration has come up with in the past two weeks. He has not been elected to anything, nor has he been nominated to any post requiring Senate approval. So why is he allowed access to sensitive information, and why does he have the freedom to fire anybody?
DeleteIt's beyond me. If I went to the OPM, set up a cot, said I would be there 24/7, give me your passwords, and started sending emails offering job buyouts, I'd be in jail in 20 minutes. That's where Musk and his friends need to be.
DeleteAnne, the situation you describe is beyond disturbing.
ReplyDeleteNow the website of USAID has been taken down.
Deletehttps://apnews.com/article/usaid-website-offline-trump-foreign-funding-freeze-9d2ecdaff5c74a9f6b0d6096fa2228ff