David Axelrod Says Democrats Should Throw in the Towel on USAID Because Americans Say ‘Cut Foreign Aid’
AP Photo/Morry Gash
Democratic strategist David Axelrod said officials in his party should not try to save the United States Agency for International Development from its likely illegal gutting at the hands of Elon Musk.
President Donald Trump appointed Musk to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency,” which was ostensibly formed as an advisory commission on cost-cutting. However, since Trump took office, Musk has been given unprecedented control over the operations of various federal agencies, including USAID, the Treasury, the General Services Administration, and the Office of Personnel Management.
Musk has taken a gleeful interest in dismantling USAID, which he boasted he “put through the wood chipper.” The agency is funded by Congress, which controls the power of the purse. However, Musk has frozen the distribution of funds for several initiatives. On Tuesday, the agency’s website was shuttered and replaced with a notice that put staff on administrative leave. Government officials and legal experts have deemed the maneuvers illegal.
Democratic lawmakers and scores of others have protested in response, which, according to Axelrod, is ill-advised. The strategist told Politico on Tuesday that his party is “walking into a trap.”
“My heart is with the people out on the street outside USAID, but my head tells me: ‘Man, Trump will be well satisfied to have this fight,’” he told the publication. “When you talk about cuts, the first thing people say is: Cut foreign aid.”
His friend and former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel agreed.
“You don’t fight every fight. You don’t swing at every pitch. And my view is — while I care about the USAID as a former ambassador — that’s not the hill I’m going to die on,” he said.
