Lawmakers on Capitol Hill and political observers expressed outrage amid speculation swirling around Washington that President Donald Trump will dissolve the U.S. Agency for International Development – a move some are saying could come as soon as Friday night.
While an official decision has yet to be announced, Trump’s failure to name an administrator for USAID coupled with his freezing of billions in foreign aid funding has added “turmoil” to the agency, and suggests that a major change is on the way, Politico reported. That includes the possibility that USAID could be wrapped into the State Department, the publication added.
But just the mere speculation that Trump would dissolve USAID, which is responsible for administering international development and humanitarian assistance around the globe including disaster and poverty relief, left social media fuming.
ALSO READ: 'Driven to self-loathing': Inside the extremist website believed to 'groom' teen attackers
“Trump's been purging and intimidating USAID employees. Now there’s a rumor he'll dissolve USAID as an independent agency,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote Friday on X. “It was created by JFK and established in law to further our national security and spread hope. This'd be illegal and against our national interests.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told his X followers: “Watch USAID tonight.”
“Hearing that Trump is about to double down on the constitutional crisis,” he wrote. “A President cannot eliminate an appropriated federal agency by executive order. That’s what a despot - who wants to steal the taxpayers money to enrich his billionaire cabal - does.”
ALSO READ: Inside the parade of right-wing world leaders flocking to D.C. for Trump's inauguration
Liberal influencer Harry Sisson repeated Murphy’s warning in his own X post and added: “This is dictator stuff here folks.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), posting from the official account of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, posed a question to her followers.
“To those considering consolidating or eliminating a premiere U.S. national security agency @USAID, ask yourselves: — Does this make America safe? — Does this make America stronger? — Does this make America more prosperous? The answer is NO.”
“Trump plans to shut down USAID tonight, which feeds 60 million hungry people in 60 countries,” Karen Piper, a University of Missouri-Columbia professor and author wrote on her X account. “Babies and the elderly will start dying first while others will leave home in search of food. Expect global instability.”
