Letter to the Editor: Baseless claims of 'fraud, waste and abuse' at USAID

Originally published in the Salem Evening News, March 7, 2025

To the editor:

I moved to Beverly after working for USAID for 24 years. It took the Trump/Musk team a month to dismantle the agency, disrupting the lives of thousands of people around the world. It is a searing truth that the strongest and richest men in the world have waged war on those most threatened by poverty, famine and conflict.

Today’s baseless claims of “fraud, waste and abuse” have more to do with ideas and people the administration dislikes — transgender people, federal workers, climate change, and DEI programs.

During my time at USAID, I found that our biggest supporters were members of the U.S. military. Most of them worked side by side with diplomats and aid workers in conflict zones doing things that those in uniform cannot — responding to global health crises, reactivating economic markets, establishing justice institutions and supporting democratic elections. This work helps reduce conflict and makes for more prosperous neighbors and trade partners. USAID programs go after root causes of poverty, aimed at helping those in need and reducing conflict in neighborhoods from where many migrants decide to leave for the U.S.

The courts will likely decide whether Musk’s moves are legal. Congress may end its somnambulance and decide the president and Musk have made a mockery of congressional oversight and the power of the purse. Legal or not, dismantling USAID has already been needlessly hurtful, disruptive, expensive, short-sighted and will leave our country less safe and less likely to lead in the future.

Signed,

Neil Levine