Joe Scarborough unleashed a blistering critique of Elon Musk’s push to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), calling the effort “strategically stupid” during Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
“To have the world’s richest man go in and say he’s going to basically tear this organization to the ground, not only will cause immeasurable suffering across the globe, it also will put us in a strategic disadvantage,” Scarborough said. “This is strategic. What he’s talking about doing is, I’m sorry, it is stupid.”
The clash emerged after Musk labeled USAID a “criminal organization” and declared “Time for it to die” on his social platform X while claiming Trump supported shuttering the agency. The moves follow Trump’s unprecedented 90-day freeze on foreign assistance programs, which has already forced thousands of humanitarian projects to halt operations.
USAID, established by President Kennedy during the Cold War as a counter to Soviet influence, now manages roughly $40 billion in annual foreign aid—less than 1% of the federal budget. The agency provides crucial humanitarian support while advancing American soft power abroad, particularly in regions where China and Russia seek influence. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has since moved to exempt specific life-saving emergency programs from the freeze, but confusion remains about which programs qualify.
The attempted dismantling of USAID may signal a broader strategy to weaken federal agencies through executive action—a concerning precedent that could affect other institutions like the Department of Education. While Congress must approve the actual dissolution of federal agencies, such as DOE, the administration appears to be testing the limits of executive authority through hiring freezes, staff removals, and budget limitations—in other words, wreaking havoc on the actual people to damage the agency. This approach mirrors Project 2025’s blueprint for gutting or temporarily disabling other federal agencies by redistributing their functions across multiple departments.
Critics note that gutting USAID would wreck its crucial support for independent journalism worldwide. The agency currently provides $268 million annually to fund press freedom initiatives, supporting over 6,000 journalists and 700 independent newsrooms globally. In Ukraine alone, 90% of news organizations rely on USAID funding. This journalism funding particularly irks Musk, who has repeatedly criticized mainstream media organizations—aside from his other vendettas.
The freeze’s anti-democratic impact has already devastated newsrooms worldwide. A Belarusian media outlet in exile told Reporters Without Borders (RSF) they could stop publishing entirely by February without funding. DataCameroon had to suspend projects covering journalist safety and the upcoming presidential election in Cameroon. An exiled Iranian journalist warned RSF that silencing independent media would create “a vacuum that Iranian state propaganda would inevitably fill.” The situation appears particularly dire in Ukraine, where, according to Anna Babinets of the investigative outlet Slidstvo.Info, “80% of our budget is affected.”
“Make no mistake of it, we actually collect data,” Scarborough emphasized. “We collect intel across Africa on Al-Qaeda’s growth, Al-Qaeda’s movement, what ISIS is trying to do there, what China is trying to do there.”
The former Republican congressman concluded with a stark warning about USAID’s strategic importance: “For anybody that might want to know why the United States engages in USAID, it’s not just charity. It is the ultimate soft power that allows America to have an advantage over China and Russia in the third world, in the Global South, because the United States is there.”
The chaos deepened Monday when USAID staffers received instructions not to enter the agency’s Washington headquarters, while Democratic members of Congress were denied entry when they arrived to investigate the situation. The administration’s attempts to reorganize USAID without congressional approval have raised serious legal questions about executive overreach.
“USAID was established by an act of Congress, and it can only be disbanded by an act of Congress,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.).
Published: Feb 5, 2025 12:53 am