🇺🇸 What is going on with USAID?

The USAID website went offline on Saturday. Then, the Trump administration shut down the agency’s headquarters on Monday and announced that it’s folding USAID into the State Department. Elon Musk, however, released statements that the agency would be shutdown entirely. The new Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, gave Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to the federal payment system, which handles more than $5 trillion per year in direct payments like Social Security, Medicare, and tax refunds. On Monday, a group of House and Senate Democrats went to the headquarters but were denied access to the building.

During all of this, USAID employees were ordered to stay away from the headquarters, career staffers were put on leave, contractors were laid off, and international staffers worldwide were told to go back home.  Two top security officials at USAID were also placed on administrative leave after trying to stop DOGE representatives from accessing restricted parts of the agency.

📍What are experts saying about Trump’s attack on USAID?

Several experts told Time that the president does not have the authority to defund programs like USAID without approval from Congress which controls spending, and this is a clear test of his constitutional power.

Philip Brenner, Emeritus Professor of International Relations and History at American University, agreed telling Newsweek that the Trump administration's attempt to shut down USAID is both illegal and unwise, and it cannot be closed or moved into the State Department without a new law, which would require an act of Congress.

📍What could happen next?

Since Trump is cutting both funding and staff at USAID, researchers around the world are terrified about the impact this will have on developing nations and people currently undergoing research trials. The United States spends the most on foreign assistance by far, and USAID funds projects in around 120 countries to help fight sickness, educate children, provide clean water and give humanitarian aid in areas devastated by war. They also protect forests and provide hunger-relief in South America, Asia and Africa.

USAID unions have sued to stop Trump from cutting jobs, arguing that many of the layoffs are essential positions.Still, at least 1,400 USAID employees were cut off from their federal email accounts by Tuesday with no obvious ways to get updates about their employment status.

🌎 Trump wants the U.S. to colonize Gaza

On Tuesday, Donald Trump outright supported ethnic cleansing (again) when he said that displaced Palestinians should be resettled permanently, and the United States should take their land for redevelopment.

Trump was standing next to Netanyahu when he said, “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” insisting that Palestinians will have to leave “the big pile of rubble.”

📍How is the world responding?

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry reacted strongly in a response to Trump, saying their support for an independent Palestinian state was “firm, steadfast and unwavering,” while Egypt, Jordan and other U.S. allies in the Mideast warned Trump that relocating Palestinians from Gaza would threaten stability and undermine the decades of work trying to establish peace for the citizens of the area.

The Saudi statement put it well: “The duty of the international community today is to work to alleviate the severe human suffering endured by the Palestinian people, who will remain committed to their land and will not budge from it.”

📍What are experts saying about his goal?

It’s universally agreed, even among the western countries that have been funding and enabling the genocide in Palestine, that ethnic cleansing violates international law and the Geneva Conventions explicitly forbid the forcible displacement of civilian populations, for any reason.

This op-ed by Michael R. Allen, visiting assistant professor of history at West Virginia University, neatly spells out how Trump’s plan for genocide in Palestine is a brutal extension of capitalism that has roots in colonization.

✝️ Trump’s Anti-Christian Bias Task Force

After the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, Trump signed an executive order that created a task force in the Department of Justice to root out what he called “anti-Christian bias” in the federal government. He claimed that anti-Christian targeting and discrimination was absolutely terrible, especially within the DOJ, the IRS and the FBI.

This is possibly the most hypocritical thing that he’s ever announced. His administration just made sweeping promises to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs that help reduce negative bias towards Muslims and Jewish people, but they are investing resources to protect the largest religious group in the country. Just a few weeks ago, Donald Trump criticized and demanded an apology from a bishop for asking him to show mercy to the people who are afraid for their futures - you know, exactly what Jesus would have done.

This task force is not a response to any real Christian persecution - Christians are overrepresented in Congress and local government, every single President has been Christian, and they are still the majority in this country. The demographics are changing rapidly though, and that’s why the rise of Christian Nationalism has been speeding up in recent years. This is a last ditch effort to hold onto the privilege they’ve become so used to having.

🔋 Recharge

Here are a few more new media recommendations that I’m loving lately. I’ve been reading and re-reading some Black classics, and watching some great new TV shows. Reply with your recent faves if you have anything you’d like to recommend.

📺 Common Side Effects on Max

This is a smart animated comedy about two friends named Marshall and Frances who discover a rare drug that could cure all the world’s diseases, and they learn that big pharma and the government are willing to protect that secret by any means to keep us all sick for profit. Greg Daniels and Mike Judge are two of the executive producers. You might recognize their names from their own hit shows like The Office and King of the Hill.

📖 Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

This dystopian masterpiece takes place throughout 2024, 2025 and the near future and its version of the world is disturbingly familiar. Climate change ravages the land, social inequality is rampant, and communities are fractured by violence and desperation. Through the eyes of Lauren Olamina, a young woman with a unique ability to feel the pain of others, Butler explores themes of survival, hope, and the human capacity for both cruelty and compassion.

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