The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) went from being a federal agency many Americans had never heard of to the center of the political universe thanks to Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
USAID became one of the first targets of DOGE due to the billions of dollars it spends on foreign aid programs each year. It was started by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to counter Soviet influence during the Cold War, and proponents argue it serves a similar function today – countering Russian and Chinese influence abroad. Critics say the initiatives are wasteful and promote leftist ideals.
The reaction to the Trump administration’s decision to halt spending and fold USAID into the U.S. State Department has been met with hysterics from Democrats and corporate media. On Wednesday’s show, Megyn was joined by the hosts of The Fifth Column – Kmele Foster, Michael Moynihan, and Matt Welch – to discuss the DOGE crackdown and what people should know about USAID.
Understanding USAID
President Kennedy created USAID as an independent entity that would work in cooperation with the State Department for policy direction – a relationship Secretary of State Marco Rubio said has been thwarted in recent years.
“There are things that it does that are good and there are things that it does that we have strong questions about. It’s about the way it operates as an entity. And they’re supposed to take direction from the State Department, policy direction. They do not now,” he told reporters. ”Their attitude is, we don’t have to answer to you because we are independent, we answer to no one. Well, that’s not true, and that will no longer be the case.”
Rubio also confirmed that he is now the acting director of USAID, though it remains to be seen what will be left of the group. On Monday, Musk announced the Trump administration was seeking to shutter the agency. That came a week after President Donald Trump imposed a 90-day freeze on U.S. foreign aid worldwide. Dozens of senior officials were put on paid leave, and USAID’s Washington, D.C., office was closed to workers beginning Monday.
During a X Spaces conversation, Musk said “it became apparent that what we have here is not an apple with a worm in it, what we have actually, just a ball of worms.” As such, “you’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing … It’s beyond repair. … We’re shutting it down,” he added.
For his part, Trump expressed concern about the direction of the agency. “I love the concept, but they turned out to be radical left lunatics,” he told reporters. “The concept of it is good, but it’s all about the people.”
Follow the Money
DOGE’s effort to dismantle USAID has led to a closer inspection of what the agency has been doling out funds for in recent years. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt ran through a few of the initiatives during a press briefing earlier this week:
- $1.5 million to advance DEI in Serbia workplaces
- $70,000 for the production of a DEI musical in Ireland
- $47,000 for a trans opera in Colombia
- $32,000 for a trans comic book in Peru
“I don’t know about you, but, as an American taxpayer, I don’t want my dollars going towards this crap and I know the American people don’t either,” Leavitt said. “And that’s exactly what Elon Musk has been tasked by President Trump to do – to get the fraud, waste, and abuse out of our federal government.”
She also confirmed that the politics-focused news outlet Politico had taken in over $8 million in taxpayer dollars via subscriptions and other government contracts. “The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now,” she said Wednesday.
On X, Libs of TikTok further expanded upon Leavitt’s list to include:
- $2 million for Moroccan pottery classes
- $2 million promoting tourism to Lebanon
- $20 million for a Sesame Street show in Iraq
- Sending Ukranians to Paris Fashion Week
- $2 million for sex changes in Guatemala
- $6 million for tourism in Egypt
- $1 million to help disabled people in Tajikistan become climate leaders
- $15 million for ‘contraceptives and condoms’ in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan
Moynihan noted that it is not all bad. “What Trump said is right in the sense that there is, on paper, a lot of good stuff… There are some actually really good things that USAID does particularly in Africa where you also have to compete with the Belt and Road Initiative of the Chinese, who are making their influence felt all over the world,” he said. “So, that kind of influence is great.”
What Can DOGE Do?
But that doesn’t mean oversight isn’t needed. “The problem with this stuff is there is no oversight in government,” he added. “If somebody was spending this sort of money in a private company and you were losing money… you would fire the whole department… There is no one in government to do that.”
Welch argued that the executive branch does not have the authority to shut down USAID without congressional authorization and said the U.S. should not just haphazardly break commitments that were previously made. But Megyn said she believes there is a way to all but end the agency.
“I think they have a very good argument that they can all but defund it… Having looked at both arguments, I am convinced they can all but defund it,” she noted. “And I also don’t care that they have made commitments to do these wacky things. They should stop. We are going to break our commitments because they were bad commitments that were being done in silent to left-wing groups that were not actually supported.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with The Fifth Column by tuning in to episode 1,000 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.