Schatz: USAID Shuttering Is Illegal, Inefficient, Counterproductive, And Carries Deadly Consequences Worldwide

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, issued the following statement after the Trump administration moved to eliminate 1,600 jobs at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and place the majority of personnel remaining on leave.

“Trump’s attempted shuttering of USAID is both illegal and carries deadly consequences around the world. None of this is about achieving efficiency – rather, it’s about Trump trying to wish away whatever parts of the government he doesn’t like. In the meantime, as a direct consequence of illegally stopping aid from flowing, vulnerable people are on the verge of dying, diseases are spreading, famine is growing, and all of it threatens the economic and security interests of the United States and our allies and partners. Make no mistake: this indiscriminate and inhumane dismantling of a key instrument of American power undermines decades of work to build goodwill and trust with other nations, leaves an opening our adversaries are eager to fill, and will make all Americans less safe and secure for years to come.”

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