Chelsea Clinton got $84 Million from USAID?!?!

[TrailGuy 552]

5 minutes ago, nobody said:

Are you talking about this?

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musks-doge-agents-access-sensitive-opm-personnel-data-washington-post-reports-2025-02-06/

If so, if that data is considered to be either Confidential, Secret or Top Secret.  Trump could grant Elon and his team appropriate clearances, and given that they need the data to do their job, they have demonstrable need-to-know and therefore should have access to the data.

Now if he downloaded data that is classified to a private server Hillary style, that is a violation and he would be subject to an investigation and the data would need to be contained, the server likely wiped, and any other servers, or hard drives would need to be wiped, but that in general would be a slap on the wrist type thing.

That's one yes.  There are also reports of the private server yes, but I'm not holding my breath that anything will happen to him.

At least you can agree the latter is wrong.  The former is wrong too and I don't agree that Trump giving Elon security clearance makes it all OK.  I don't trust either of them.

[nobody 2,527]

You'll find waste at DoD contractors, but must of the time it isn't corporate fraud.  I mean individuals are committing fraud in that they are charging the government while working from home and I know they're out walking their dog and doing laundry and charging that to the government.  

Elon should come in and identify those people and they should be fired immediately and hopefully brought up on charges.

But the vast majority of waste coming from contractors is from incompetence and not fraud.  Big DoD contractors like Boeing, Lockheed, Northrop, Raytheon... all of these companies are full of some of the crappiest workers you've ever seen.  And the culture is that it doesn't matter if you screw up.  You'll just get more money to fix your screw up.  If Elon can come in and force a twitter like purge where they cut a blanket 25%, that's instant savings to the government.

[jerryskids 6,410]

1 minute ago, nobody said:

Are you talking about this?

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musks-doge-agents-access-sensitive-opm-personnel-data-washington-post-reports-2025-02-06/

If so, if that data is considered to be either Confidential, Secret or Top Secret.  Trump could grant Elon and his team appropriate clearances, and given that they need the data to do their job, they have demonstrable need-to-know and therefore should have access to the data.

Now if he downloaded data that is classified to a private server Hillary style, that is a violation and he would be subject to an investigation and the data would need to be contained, the server likely wiped, and any other servers, or hard drives would need to be wiped, but that in general would be a slap on the wrist type thing.

These guys don't understand how large computer systems work.  Multi-user operating systems like Unix or Linux have a variety of access privileges (read/write/execute) at different levels of hierarchy.  To be able to do anything with the computers, Musk's teams would have needed to have been provided some level of admin privileges.  

We don't know what level of admin privileges DOGE had, but the Leftist cult is being given the marching orders that Musk and young engineers$#@! have downloaded all of our personal information, presumably to use as part of Musk's plan to take over the government.  But Righties are the ones chasing boogeymen with USAID.   

[MLCKAA 533]

1 hour ago, TrailGuy said:

Using your family analogy, if they're going bankrupt because they can't afford their $4k/mo mortgage, going after the $10/mo starbucks and $20/gambling isn't going to do it.

I think you’re being disingenuous.  There’s no way you fail to understand the pernicious effects of unchecked frivolous spending.  My analogy is perfectly applicable.  When struggling financially, one must examine all spending and cut back to the necessities.

[nobody 2,527]

3 minutes ago, The Girlfriend said:

You are advocating breaking the law? I’m not a huge fan of the slippery slope argument but this feel like a worthy example.

I'm an advocate of fixing problems and worrying about following some BS process later.

[nobody 2,527]

13 minutes ago, TrailGuy said:

That's one yes.  There are also reports of the private server yes, but I'm not holding my breath that anything will happen to him.

At least you can agree the latter is wrong.  The former is wrong too and I don't agree that Trump giving Elon security clearance makes it all OK.  I don't trust either of them.

I'd be shocked if Elon didn't already have a very high clearance given his affiliation with SpaceX.

[TrailGuy 552]

4 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

These guys don't understand how large computer systems work.  Multi-user operating systems like Unix or Linux have a variety of access privileges (read/write/execute) at different levels of hierarchy.  To be able to do anything with the computers, Musk's teams would have needed to have been provided some level of admin privileges.  

We don't know what level of admin privileges DOGE had, but the Leftist cult is being given the marching orders that Musk and young engineers$#@! have downloaded all of our personal information, presumably to use as part of Musk's plan to take over the government.  But Righties are the ones chasing boogeymen with USAID.   

 

A 25-year-old engineer named Marko Elez, who previously worked for two Elon Musk companies, has direct access to Treasury Department systems responsible for nearly all payments made by the US government, three sources tell WIRED.

 

Two of those sources say that Elez’s privileges include the ability not just to read but to write code on two of the most sensitive systems in the US government: the Payment Automation Manager and Secure Payment System at the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS). Housed on a secure mainframe, these systems control, on a granular level, government payments that in their totality amount to more than a fifth of the US economy.

 

Despite reporting that suggests that Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force has access to these Treasury systems on a “read-only” level, sources say Elez, who has visited a Kansas City office housing BFS systems, has many administrator-level privileges. Typically, those admin privileges could give someone the power to log in to servers through secure shell access, navigate the entire file system, change user permissions, and delete or modify critical files. That could allow someone to bypass the security measures of, and potentially cause irreversible changes to, the very systems they have access to.

 

https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-associate-bfs-federal-payment-system/

[jerryskids 6,410]

1 hour ago, The Girlfriend said:

Anyone?

This is money that has already been budgeted and approved by Congress. They do NOT have the power to do this. Congress controls the power of the purse. Yes, there will be lawsuits and most likely this will not go in their favor, but by then the damage will have already been done.

If they really were on the up and up, a bipartisan committee would have been the proper way to deal with this.

Can you walk me through the illegal/unconstitutional part?  USAID is in the Executive Branch.  The head of that branch has put a pause on some outlays pending an audit by people he assigned to do just so.

Did Congress specifically outline the payments to each beneficiary of USAID?  If so, did they outline the payment schedule for each beneficiary?  If "yes" to both, then I agree that Trump should not be able to put a pause on payments that were legislatively outlined.   

[nobody 2,527]

10 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

These guys don't understand how large computer systems work.  Multi-user operating systems like Unix or Linux have a variety of access privileges (read/write/execute) at different levels of hierarchy.  To be able to do anything with the computers, Musk's teams would have needed to have been provided some level of admin privileges.  

We don't know what level of admin privileges DOGE had, but the Leftist cult is being given the marching orders that Musk and young engineers$#@! have downloaded all of our personal information, presumably to use as part of Musk's plan to take over the government.  But Righties are the ones chasing boogeymen with USAID.   

To be fair, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Elon did make a copy of that data with the intention of mining it first and foremost to identify waste, but we don't know if he would have also had intended to keep it as a data trove that can be mined to help twitter profit or to help influence elections, etc.  It would likely be pretty valuable resource for various analytics firms that I'm sure he wouldn't mind distilling down into reports and selling.

[The Girlfriend 207]

6 minutes ago, nobody said:

I'm an advocate of fixing problems and worrying about following some BS process later.

Now imagine that president being set for any administration.

[Hardcore troubadour 14,654]

You think Elon might buy land in Arizona and Nevada and then direct missiles at the San Andres fault? 

[TrailGuy 552]

Just now, nobody said:

To be fair, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Elon did make a copy of that data with the intention of mining it first and foremost to identify waste, but I we don't know if he would have also had intended to keep it as a data trove that can be mined to help twitter profit or to help influence elections, etc.  It would likely be pretty valuable resource for various analytics firms that I'm sure he wouldn't mind distilling down into reports and selling.

Bingo Boyo!

[The Girlfriend 207]

3 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

Can you walk me through the illegal/unconstitutional part?  USAID is in the Executive Branch.  The head of that branch has put a pause on some outlays pending an audit by people he assigned to do just so.

Did Congress specifically outline the payments to each beneficiary of USAID?  If so, did they outline the payment schedule for each beneficiary?  If "yes" to both, then I agree that Trump should not be able to put a pause on payments that were legislatively outlined.   

USAID was passed by statue in Congress. It cannot be eliminated by EO. 

Each year federal agencies receive funding from Congress, known as budgetary resources . In FY 2025, the Agency for International Development (USAID) had -- distributed among its 3 sub-components. Agencies spend available budgetary resources by making financial promises called obligations .

The current federal spending freeze is for money that was already appropriated by Congress and is also not legal.

I have typed this out several times. Now go punch yourself in the face and run into traffic.

[Mike Honcho 4,948]

46 minutes ago, TrailGuy said:

Those 87k agents would have caught cheaters and lowered everyone's taxes.

Anyone that talks about eliminating fraud should shut up about hiring IRS agents to find... FRAUD. 

 

Quote

 

Tax cheats are costing the U.S. $1 trillion a year, IRS estimates

The head of the IRS calculated that tax evasion in the U.S. may total $1 trillion a year, a figure that is multiples higher than previous estimates from the federal government.

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Chuck Rettig told a Senate panel Tuesday that previous tallies of the tax gap — which came to a cumulative amount of about $441 billion for the three years through 2013 — didn’t include some tax-evasion techniques that weren’t on the agency’s radar at the time.

New estimates include the use of cryptocurrency, he said. Offshore tax evasion, illegal income that goes undetected by the IRS and underreporting from pass-through businesses also contribute to a larger than previously known tax gap, Rettig said.

“I think it would not be outlandish to believe that the actual tax gap could approach and possibly exceed $1 trillion per year,” Rettig told the Senate Finance Committee.

 

 

But they got those illegal magazine subscriptions.  

[nobody 2,527]

I think it's great that we are all thinking about areas to eliminate waste.  Good job by OMB here.

[CaptainObvious1 259]

34 minutes ago, TrailGuy said:

Musk has allegedly according to close sources downloaded treasury data to a private server, including US citizen Name, Address, SSN and tax and payment records.

Private servers are an issue for you now?

[jerryskids 6,410]

15 minutes ago, nobody said:

To be fair, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Elon did make a copy of that data with the intention of mining it first and foremost to identify waste, but we don't know if he would have also had intended to keep it as a data trove that can be mined to help twitter profit or to help influence elections, etc.  It would likely be pretty valuable resource for various analytics firms that I'm sure he wouldn't mind distilling down into reports and selling.

 

13 minutes ago, TrailGuy said:

Bingo Boyo!

I would be surprised, because in that case the richest man in the world would be performing a clearly illegal and traceable act which would lead to him facing prison and his empire crumbling. for some indeterminate sales to analytics firms.

[jerryskids 6,410]

12 minutes ago, The Girlfriend said:

USAID was passed by statue in Congress. It cannot be eliminated by EO. 

Each year federal agencies receive funding from Congress, known as budgetary resources . In FY 2025, the Agency for International Development (USAID) had -- distributed among its 3 sub-components. Agencies spend available budgetary resources by making financial promises called obligations .

The current federal spending freeze is for money that was already appropriated by Congress and is also not legal.

I have typed this out several times. Now go punch yourself in the face and run into traffic.

Well, I tried to have a civil discussion, and outlined my objections, but you chose this way.

So since this addressed roughly 0.0% of my questions, I'm going to presume either English isn't your first language, or you are special.  If the latter, how are you buddy?  Sorry for offending you.

Here, I'll help you.  Agencies may make financial promises called obligations.  Those are not Congressional obligations of payments or a payment schedule.

Put another way:  is it illegal to not pay the Clinton foundation boondoggle $84M in 36 equal monthly payments?

Read my post slower, maybe pretend it is in crayon, and get back to me.   

[TrailGuy 552]

14 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

 

I would be surprised, because in that case the richest man in the world would be performing a clearly illegal and traceable act which would lead to him facing prison and his empire crumbling. for some indeterminate sales to analytics firms.

He's above the law now.  Plus he's smart enough to not get caught.

[TrailGuy 552]

Everything was ready to go. In late January, a consortium of researchers from eight African countries was set to launch a phase 1 clinical trial of two experimental HIV vaccines that would enroll dozens of volunteers in South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda. “The vaccines are in the country. The regulators have approved the study. [Clinicians] at the sites have been trained,” says Glenda Gray, chief scientific officer at the South African Medical Research Council, who leads the BRILLIANT Consortium.

But the trial is off—at least for now. The consortium, which was awarded more than $45 million by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2023, has decided to put the research on hold after President Donald Trump’s administration announced a 3-month freeze on all U.S. foreign assistance on 20 January and ordered recipients of its funding to halt their work. “It would be unethical to start a study that you can’t guarantee you can continue,” Gray says. She doesn’t know yet whether the team will have to let the project’s scientists go or how the consortium will continue to pay for cold storage of the vaccines.

Nice job Maga!

[jerryskids 6,410]

37 minutes ago, TrailGuy said:

 

A 25-year-old engineer named Marko Elez, who previously worked for two Elon Musk companies, has direct access to Treasury Department systems responsible for nearly all payments made by the US government, three sources tell WIRED.

 

Two of those sources say that Elez’s privileges include the ability not just to read but to write code on two of the most sensitive systems in the US government: the Payment Automation Manager and Secure Payment System at the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS). Housed on a secure mainframe, these systems control, on a granular level, government payments that in their totality amount to more than a fifth of the US economy.

 

Despite reporting that suggests that Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force has access to these Treasury systems on a “read-only” level, sources say Elez, who has visited a Kansas City office housing BFS systems, has many administrator-level privileges. Typically, those admin privileges could give someone the power to log in to servers through secure shell access, navigate the entire file system, change user permissions, and delete or modify critical files. That could allow someone to bypass the security measures of, and potentially cause irreversible changes to, the very systems they have access to.

 

https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-associate-bfs-federal-payment-system/

I'm going to try to help you parse this, since you keep posting it as the ultimate authority, but it won't help.

First, it's a little odd that Wired has not one not two but three sources that nobody else has.  It's like the 3 Wired tech bros connected with the Musk tech bros, on Discord or maybe a lightly trafficked FF website, and the Musk tech bros were like "bro, check it out, we've got many admin privileges!"

Second, presuming the sources indeed know something, check out that last paragragh.  "many" admin privileges, what is that exactly?  "Typically"?  Is typically what "many" means?  As I pointed out earlier, there are a vast array of admin privileges.  But our 3 Wired tech bros have speculated on what "many" is.

Third, the lead author of this piece, Vittoria, has another article I might like entitled "The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk's Government Takeover."  Government takeover?  Ima guess Vittoria doesn't like Musk.  Or seemingly, young men.

[TrailGuy 552]

5 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

I'm going to try to help you parse this, since you keep posting it as the ultimate authority, but it won't help.

First, it's a little odd that Wired has not one not two but three sources that nobody else has.  It's like the 3 Wired tech bros connected with the Musk tech bros, on Discord or maybe a lightly trafficked FF website, and the Musk tech bros were like "bro, check it out, we've got many admin privileges!"

Second, presuming the sources indeed know something, check out that last paragragh.  "many" admin privileges, what is that exactly?  "Typically"?  Is typically what "many" means?  As I pointed out earlier, there are a vast array of admin privileges.  But our 3 Wired tech bros have speculated on what "many" is.

Third, the lead author of this piece, Vittoria, has another article I might like entitled "The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk's Government Takeover."  Government takeover?  Ima guess Vittoria doesn't like Musk.  Or seemingly, young men.

Never said it was the ultimate authority just that it's being reported by multiple sources.  You will of course dismiss it all because cultist.

[jerryskids 6,410]

10 minutes ago, TrailGuy said:

Everything was ready to go. In late January, a consortium of researchers from eight African countries was set to launch a phase 1 clinical trial of two experimental HIV vaccines that would enroll dozens of volunteers in South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda. “The vaccines are in the country. The regulators have approved the study. [Clinicians] at the sites have been trained,” says Glenda Gray, chief scientific officer at the South African Medical Research Council, who leads the BRILLIANT Consortium.

But the trial is off—at least for now. The consortium, which was awarded more than $45 million by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2023, has decided to put the research on hold after President Donald Trump’s administration announced a 3-month freeze on all U.S. foreign assistance on 20 January and ordered recipients of its funding to halt their work. “It would be unethical to start a study that you can’t guarantee you can continue,” Gray says. She doesn’t know yet whether the team will have to let the project’s scientists go or how the consortium will continue to pay for cold storage of the vaccines.

Nice job Maga!

Ah yes, malicious compliance.  Similar to the "since we ended DEI, we can't teach about the Tuskegee Airmen!  "

It's unethical to start a study you can't guarantee you can continue?  Why?  Is it more ethical to stop now, immediately halt the testing and collection of data, for... what now?

[TrailGuy 552]

2 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

Ah yes, malicious compliance.  Similar to the "since we ended DEI, we can't teach about the Tuskegee Airmen!  "

It's unethical to start a study you can't guarantee you can continue?  Why?  Is it more ethical to stop now, immediately halt the testing and collection of data, for... what now?

You will say or do anything to defend Trump.  It's abhorrent.

You know what a normal intellectually curious person says?  "Damn that sucks, I feel bad for those people.  Maybe it was wrong of Musk to do what he did seeing how it affects real people.  It's not all about Politico subscriptions."

 

You?  Cry Harder.  You're just making excuses.  It's not our fault. blah blah.

Human Garbage

[jerryskids 6,410]

3 minutes ago, TrailGuy said:

Never said it was the ultimate authority just that it's being reported by multiple sources.  You will of course dismiss it all because cultist.

I'm trying to explain how Vittoria took "many" privileges and used it to create a laundry list of hypothetical "typical" privileges. Cultist.

[jerryskids 6,410]

1 minute ago, TrailGuy said:

You will say or do anything to defend Trump.  It's abhorrent.

You know what a normal intellectually curious person says?  "Damn that sucks, I feel bad for those people.  Maybe it was wrong of Musk to do what he did seeing how it affects real people.  It's not all about Politico subscriptions."

 

You?  Cry Harder.  You're just making excuses.  It's not our fault. blah blah.

Human Garbage

Dang boyo, human garbage?  How dehumanizing.  I usually just call you a finance exec who sucks at math and, now I learn, doesn't understand large, multi-user computer systems.   

Care to chime in on my question about illegal/unconstitutional?  You've thrown constitutionality around a lot recently, since I put to bed your "unelected" lemming comment from your MSM cult leaders.   

[jerryskids 6,410]

5 minutes ago, TrailGuy said:

You will say or do anything to defend Trump.  It's abhorrent.

You know what a normal intellectually curious person says?  "Damn that sucks, I feel bad for those people.  Maybe it was wrong of Musk to do what he did seeing how it affects real people.  It's not all about Politico subscriptions."

 

You?  Cry Harder.  You're just making excuses.  It's not our fault. blah blah.

Human Garbage

Also, this organization received $45M in 2023.  Is she going to return the money she hasn't spent yet?  Since she can't possibly move forward now, that would be the ethical thing to do, right?

[Horseman 2,244]

Someone call the coroner. Jerry just murdered TrailGayGuy.   

[Herbivore 1,103]

21 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

Ah yes, malicious compliance.  Similar to the "since we ended DEI, we can't teach about the Tuskegee Airmen!  "

It's unethical to start a study you can't guarantee you can continue?  Why?  Is it more ethical to stop now, immediately halt the testing and collection of data, for... what now?

 

16 minutes ago, TrailGuy said:

You will say or do anything to defend Trump.  It's abhorrent.

You know what a normal intellectually curious person says?  "Damn that sucks, I feel bad for those people.  Maybe it was wrong of Musk to do what he did seeing how it affects real people.  It's not all about Politico subscriptions."

 

You?  Cry Harder.  You're just making excuses.  It's not our fault. blah blah.

Human Garbage

human garbage might be much, but yes, jerry is bending over backwards to defend anything by trump and musk

[The Girlfriend 207]

51 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

Well, I tried to have a civil discussion, and outlined my objections, but you chose this way.

So since this addressed roughly 0.0% of my questions, I'm going to presume either English isn't your first language, or you are special.  If the latter, how are you buddy?  Sorry for offending you.

Here, I'll help you.  Agencies may make financial promises called obligations.  Those are not Congressional obligations of payments or a payment schedule.

Put another way:  is it illegal to not pay the Clinton foundation boondoggle $84M in 36 equal monthly payments?

Read my post slower, maybe pretend it is in crayon, and get back to me.   

  USAID is not part of the executive branch. It was passed into law by the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998. Which is what "it was passed by statute in Congress" means. It cannot be disbanded by EO. And, it was structured under that law so that it operates outside of the State Dept. USAID is funded by the annual federal budget, They allocate the funds. Again, neither Musk nor Trump have the unilateral authority to defund, dismantle, or otherwise change the agency without going through the proper legislative process.

[The Girlfriend 207]

8 minutes ago, Herbivore said:

 

human garbage might be much, but yes, jerry is bending over backwards to defend anything by trump and musk

Sycophant might be a term.

[Fnord 1,932]

1 hour ago, jerryskids said:

 

I would be surprised, because in that case the richest man in the world would be performing a clearly illegal and traceable act which would lead to him facing prison and his empire crumbling. for some indeterminate sales to analytics firms.

Only if the Trump/Bondi DOJ prosecuted. I'm not making the claims @TrailGuy is about stolen data as I have not seen that anywhere but in his posts, but there is zero chance that if Musk is up to something nefarious he will see any sort of consequences from the current regime.

[jerryskids 6,410]

10 minutes ago, The Girlfriend said:

  USAID is not part of the executive branch. It was passed into law by the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998. Which is what "it was passed by statute in Congress" means. It cannot be disbanded by EO. And, it was structured under that law so that it operates outside of the State Dept. USAID is funded by the annual federal budget, They allocate the funds. Again, neither Musk nor Trump have the unilateral authority to defund, dismantle, or otherwise change the agency without going through the proper legislative process.

Quote

As an official component of U.S. foreign policy, USAID operates subject to the guidance of the president, secretary of state, and the National Security Council.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Agency_for_International_Development

Also I said nothing about dispatching it by EO; that's your boogeyman.

Otherwise, you type a lot of words without answering my questions. 

 

[The Girlfriend 207]

Reports now have them inside the VA, Medicaid/Medicare and the NOAA systems.

[Horseman 2,244]

Quote

 

Consistent with President Trump’s Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid, Secretary Rubio has paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for review. He is initiating a review of all foreign assistance programs to ensure they are efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda.

President Trump stated clearly that the United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people. Reviewing and realigning foreign assistance on behalf of hardworking taxpayers is not just the right thing to do, it is a moral imperative. The Secretary is proud to protect America’s investment with a deliberate and judicious review of how we spend foreign assistance dollars overseas.

The mandate from the American people was clear – we must refocus on American national interests. The Department and USAID take their role as stewards of taxpayer dollars very seriously. The implementation of this Executive Order and the Secretary’s direction furthers that mission. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, “Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?”

 

[Horseman 2,244]

3 minutes ago, The Girlfriend said:

Reports now have them inside the VA, Medicaid/Medicare and the NOAA systems.

[Engorgeous George 1,977]

2 hours ago, nobody said:

Okay, man.  Let's start at the top since everything below it flows from that. What data was stolen?

I am waiting for when you get to Musk being a foriegn national since he became a citizen of the U.S.A. in 2002.

[The Girlfriend 207]

Under the United States Constitution and the principles of separation of powers, the President does not have unilateral authority to dismantle or cut funding to USAID (the U.S. Agency for International Development). Here are the key reasons:

1. Congressional Power of the Purse:

The U.S. Constitution grants Congress the exclusive authority to appropriate federal funds. This means that decisions about the budget and funding for federal agencies like USAID must be made by Congress through the appropriations process. The President can propose a budget or suggest changes, but only Congress can authorize and allocate the money.

2. Separation of Powers:

The U.S. government is divided into three branches: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. This system is designed to prevent any one branch from accumulating too much power. While the President heads the executive branch and can influence policy and administration, he cannot unilaterally change the structure or funding of federal agencies because that power resides with the legislative branch (Congress).

3. Agency Independence and Statutory Authority:

USAID was established by law and its mission and structure are defined by statutes. Any significant changes to its mandate, organization, or funding levels would require legislative action to amend these laws. The President cannot unilaterally alter these statutory provisions.

4. Checks and Balances:

The system of checks and balances ensures that any attempt by the executive branch to make sweeping changes without congressional approval can be challenged in court. If the President were to try to dismantle or cut funding to USAID without going through the proper legislative channels, such actions would likely face legal challenges and could be reversed by the courts.

 

In summary, while the President can influence policy and suggest changes, the power to dismantle or defund a federal agency like USAID lies with Congress, as part of the constitutional checks and balances designed to prevent any branch of government from acting unilaterally on issues of national funding and organizational structure.

 

[Hardcore troubadour 14,654]

36 minutes ago, The Girlfriend said:

  USAID is not part of the executive branch. It was passed into law by the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998. Which is what "it was passed by statute in Congress" means. It cannot be disbanded by EO. And, it was structured under that law so that it operates outside of the State Dept. USAID is funded by the annual federal budget, They allocate the funds. Again, neither Musk nor Trump have the unilateral authority to defund, dismantle, or otherwise change the agency without going through the proper legislative process.

Tell Al Green to put that in his articles of impeachment next to dastardly deeds. 

[The Girlfriend 207]

1 minute ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

Tell Al Green to put that in his articles of impeachment next to dastardly deeds. 

Isn’t is about time for Wapner, RainMan?