Meeks, Jacobs Condemn Trump Administration’s Attempt to Undermine USAID and U.S. Foreign Assistance
Representatives Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sara Jacobs, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Africa, today issued the following joint statement on the Trump Administration’s unlawful actions to change the status of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
“With the unilateral actions taken over the last few days, Donald Trump is again ignoring the rule of law and allowing billionaire Elon Musk—who is neither elected nor accountable to American voters—to eliminate USAID. Congress established the agency as independent from the State Department; eliminating or subsuming it without an act of Congress is illegal.
“Elon Musk is trying to pull wool over the eyes of the American people and kill a key arm of U.S. national security in the dead of night. If it were a transparent process, the Administration would engage Congress before attempting any reorganization, as the law requires, to justify how this move serves to advance U.S. interests and those of the American people. Instead, it is gutting USAID, suspending or terminating thousands of staff, and initiating a hasty, after-the-fact consultation with Congress to paper over the Administration’s abuse of power. Our adversaries and competitors are already celebrating the idea of USAID’s demise at the hands of Trump and Musk.
“The White House’s recent freeze on foreign aid has already thrown humanitarian operations into chaos, cutting off millions of people who depend on these programs to survive. As just one example, as a result of Trump’s assistance freeze, pregnant women and newborn babies do not have access to anti-retroviral therapies that could prevent the perinatal transmission of HIV. These drugs have generously been provided by the American people, and the Trump Administration has unlawfully stopped them. Most critical assistance programs remain frozen.
“USAID is the backbone of America’s soft power, helping to stabilize fragile regions and protect U.S. interests abroad. Weakening it will fuel global crises, endanger American security, embolden other nations like China and Russia, and leave the Trump Administration solely responsible for the fallout.”
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