What Is USAID?

Until Elon Musk set his minions loose in its books the United Sates Agency for International Development was riding high. It had 10,000 employees, scattered around the world, handing out goodies from the American taxpayer.

If you only know what Democratic hysteric have promoted, you would think that, what with its reduction to a shadow of its former self, the end of USAID would cause mas starvation around the world. Those hysterics who can do nothing but shout at you have nothing to say about, for example, USAID’s work funding Hamas terror tunnels in the Baza strip. You see, we bought the cement that helped Hamas to build the tunnels.

So, now USAID has been reduced from 10,000 staff members to less than 200. It has been folded into the State Department, and is being overseen by Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.

The New York Post has the numbers:

USAID had a $43.4 billion budget in fiscal year 2023 and spent most of its funds on foreign governance assistance ($16.8 billion), followed by humanitarian aid ($10.5 billion), health care initiatives ($7 billion), administrative efforts ($3.5 billion) and agriculture, education and infrastructure projects ($3.1 billion), according to CRS.

But then, USAID was also funding crackpot transgender schemes and drag shows. Apparently, they thought that it would enhance America’s reputation around the world. And the money was also funding American journalism, as in Politico.

As for the administrator of this organization, currently one Samantha Power, the job has made her rich. According to one Brooke Gossest,

I did a little digging …… Samantha Power was sworn in as the Administrator of USAID on May 3, 2021. Samantha Power’s financial disclosure filed in January 2021 showed her assets were estimated at $6.7 million to $16.5 million. Today, in 2024, her net worth is estimated at up to $30 million. How does a government job multiply wealth like that? Her salary at USAID was 180,000 annually.

Apparently, the unelected bureaucrats were doing pretty well. They were not doing well by the nation, but they were certainly doing well for themselves.