Musk says he's working to shut down USAID as employees told to stay home | Hacker News Reader

Musk says he's working to shut down USAID as employees told to stay home

bbc.com

42 pointssegasaturn19 comments

Without a law that says USAID can be shut down or reorganized (or not funded) it seems that this is pretty much by definition entirely illegal regardless of one's opinions about USAID.

Question to ponder: if Trump and Musk were hostile foreign agents, how would they behave differently?

Be less obvious that they're out to destroy America. A hostile foreign agent would be too concerned with having their cover blown if they were that obvious.

That's only under the assumption they were competent.

They'd give money to Ecohealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute of Virology to find new and exciting viruses for the CCP's bioweapon program.

Which USAID has already done.

Even if that were true -- which until proven, it's not -- Trump and his henchmen do not have the authority to change it.

Pretty much everything they've been doing is illegal. The million-dollar question is whether they'll be held to account. Trump has a pretty good track record of facing little to no consequences for his crimes. The pessimist in me says this time will be no different. We'll see.

Wonders never cease: HN now supports the CIA regime change front that funded coups in dozens of countries, as well as laundered hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to all sorts of shady special interest groups and political operatives domestically and abroad, and was responsible for funding illegal GoF research that led to COVID. Is this really the organization y'all want to carry water for?

Rule of law, mate, rule of law. Lose that and you lose everything.

Reorganizing USAID into State Dept is lawful. That's what's going to happen.

Not if it has the effect of circumventing Congressional funding discretion.

Has it been circumvented? No? Then what's the problem?

So far, at least one judge seems to think so [1]: "Defendants' actions appear to suffer from infirmities of a constitutional magnitude."

1: https://bsky.app/profile/joshuajfriedman.com/post/3lhckndvvb...

That's just what she seems to think, literally. I'd also be surprised if she thought any different given that she's been appointed by Biden.

But of course, it's fine if Trump's own trials are handled by judges he appointed.

You've been sold a bill of goods. You can come to terms with the truth now, or confront it later when his actions start to hurt you and those you care about.

Not that it will make any difference, though; the outcome will be the same.

Did I say it's fine? Where? They too sometimes get overturned. I'm merely saying an opinion of a district judge is fairly small potatoes when it comes to the events of this magnitude.

`Has` or `has had`? -- I'm confused.

I probably shouldn't be doing this and it feels dirty but ChatGPT wrote:

"When has Congress (and what occasions) tried to investigate USAID?"

> Congress has investigated USAID (United States Agency for International Development) on multiple occasions, often focusing on issues such as mismanagement of funds, political influence, and the effectiveness of aid programs. Some key investigations include:

    Cold War & Covert Activities (1960s–1980s)
        USAID programs were scrutinized for allegedly being used as fronts for CIA operations, particularly in Latin America and Southeast Asia.
        Example: USAID’s involvement in funding educational and media programs in Chile before the 1973 coup.

    Post-9/11 Reconstruction Efforts (2000s–2010s)
        Congress investigated USAID’s role in Afghanistan and Iraq reconstruction, particularly allegations of waste, fraud, and inefficiency.
        Example: The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) frequently reported on USAID’s mismanagement of billions in aid.

    Cuban Democracy Programs (2014)
        Senate and House committees examined USAID’s involvement in funding “Cuban Twitter” (ZunZuneo)—a covert social media platform aimed at fostering dissent against the Cuban government.
        Lawmakers questioned whether USAID was exceeding its humanitarian mission.

    COVID-19 Response & Global Health Funding (2020–2021)
        USAID’s pandemic response efforts, including funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) and vaccine distribution, were scrutinized by Congress.
        Some lawmakers alleged mismanagement of funds and lack of transparency.

    Ukraine Aid & Oversight (2022–2023)
        House Republicans, especially through the House Oversight and Foreign Affairs Committees, have investigated USAID’s funding for Ukraine, focusing on potential misuse and lack of accountability.
        This inquiry continues, with some lawmakers calling for increased auditing of foreign aid.

> But President Trump was less definitive about shuttering the agency, telling reporters on Sunday night that USAID was run by "a bunch of radical lunatics".

> "We're getting them out," he said, "and then we'll make a decision."

This is pretty wild considering USAID is an extension of the state department, sits with the National Security Council, and closely works with the CIA. However you feel about USAID, the point of the org is to prevent humanitarian crises from becoming more expensive security issues.

If the argument is that the USAID is too left leaning, oh boy I can't imagine what they have in store.

In a way the argument doesn't matter, because there's a good chance it's just a lie they don't believe themselves.

Fascists will prioritize accumulating power, even if that means destroying previous allies. They don't care whether you think some of they ways they do, you've got something and they want it and might makes right.

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