The opening month of the second Trump administration was marked by incredible speed and progress, especially toward its goal of scaling back the bloat of the federal government. The pace has left an out-of-power Democratic Party reeling. Rather than propose their own spending cuts, most Democrats have decided to oppose reflexively everything President Donald Trump is doing.
They have directed their loudest opposition toward the administration’s merging of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), a little-known Washington organization, with the Department of State.
On the list of pressing issues facing the country, most Americans would not identify the future of USAID, something many had likely never heard of, as top of mind. In fact, according to polling from the Associated Press, seven in 10 believe the government is spending too much on “assistance to other countries.”
Yet, to hear the Democrats’ complaining, you’d think the sky was falling.
Much of the fallout has focused on the more egregious examples of USAID waste, items like $1.5 million to “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communitiesa, according to the White House.