quote:

Originally posted by oddball:
This asshole, a "Platform Services Manager", a G14 level position in the Dept. of Homeland Security...

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Secretary Of State Marco Rubio: "I'm Now Acting Director Of USAID"
During a trip to El Salvador on Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters he has been named acting director of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), effectively subsuming the agency into the State Department.

Read more via CBS News: USAID to be merged into State Department, 3 U.S. officials say


SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO: My frustration with USAID goes back to my time in Congress.

It's a completely unresponsive agency.

It's supposed to respond to policy directives of the State Department, and it refuses to do so.

The functions of USAID—there are a lot of functions of USAID that are going to continue, that are going to be part of American foreign policy -- but it has to be aligned with American foreign policy.

I said very clearly during my confirmation hearing that every dollar we spend and every program we fund will be aligned with the national interest of the United States. USAID has a history of ignoring that and deciding that it's somehow a global charity separate from the national interest.

These are taxpayer dollars. I am very troubled by these reports that they have been unwilling to cooperate with people who are asking simple questions about what these programs do, who gets the money, who our contractors are, and who is funded. That level of insubordination makes it impossible to conduct a mature and serious review that I think our foreign policy, writ large, should have.

We are spending taxpayer money here. These are not donor dollars. These are taxpayer dollars, and we owe the American people the assurance that every dollar we are spending abroad is being spent on something that furthers our national interest. So far, a lot of the people that work at USAID have simply refused to cooperate.

REPORTER: Are you currently in charge of USAID?

RUBIO: I am the acting director of USAID.

I've delegated that authority to someone, but I stay in touch with him. Again, our goal was to go in and align our foreign aid to the national interest.

But if you go to mission after mission and embassy after embassy around the world, you will often find that, in many cases, USAID is involved in programs that run counter to what we're trying to do in our national strategy with that country or with that region.

That cannot continue.

USAID is not an independent, non-governmental entity. It is an entity that spends taxpayer money, and it needs to spend it—as the statute says—in alignment with the policy directives that come from the Secretary of State, the National Security Council, and the President.

For 20 or 30 years, people have tried to reform it, and it refuses to reform. It refuses to cooperate.

When we were in Congress, we couldn't even get answers to basic questions about programs. That’s not going to continue. I've articulated my challenges with it, and they go back to my time in Congress.

We would ask them questions: "Who does this program fund? Who gets the money?"

"We won't tell you."

"We don't need to tell you."

"We're apolitical."

American foreign policy isn't apolitical. American foreign policy is about furthering the interests of the United States.

If someone wants to spend apolitical dollars, they should spend private dollars. Go start a charity, and you can fund anyone you want.

But if you're going to spend taxpayer money, then you need to spend it furthering the national interest of the United States. That's exactly what I said at my confirmation hearing, and this is not just my frustration. This has been a frustration for almost a quarter-century, spanning multiple administrations. It's going to stop and it is going to end.

...

REPORTER: A lot of the money USAID spends that is being criticized as "charitable," you used that word, or welfare for poor countries. Defenders of USAID and some members of Congress say it is America's national interest and promotes stability or buys America goodwill overseas. What is you reaction to that? Do you think USAID does good work and you have issues with some of the specifics spending?

RUBIO: My issue, as I said, is that there are things USAID does that we should continue to do, and we will continue to do. But everything they do has to be in alignment with the national interest and the foreign policy of the United States.

The attitude that USAID has adopted over the years is, “No, we are independent of the national interest. We fund programs irrespective of whether they align with foreign policy.” That’s ridiculous. These are taxpayer dollars. Every penny that we spend in foreign aid needs to be in furtherance of and aligned with the national interest and foreign policy of the United States.

So, this is not about ending USAID programs. There are things it does that are good, and there are things it does that raise strong questions. It’s about the way it operates. They’re supposed to take direction from the State Department on policy. They do not take policy direction. They are uncooperative when you ask questions.

When you try to find out basic information, their attitude is, “We don’t have to answer to you because we are independent. We answer to no one.”

That is not true, and that will no longer be the case.

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Originally posted by PASig:
Wow, the Dems are getting pissed of/panicky that the gravy train is being shut down:

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1886492712700141634

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Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Canadians should be breathing a sigh of relief. Imagine having to forego Knob Creek and choose Canadian Mist instead. The horror.

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