Jeremy Konyndyk@JeremyKonyndyk · Feb 4, 2025

Might not feel this way on twitter - but back here on earth, DOGE did not have a great day yesterday on the @USAID…

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Summary

Elon Musk's DOGE team faces growing legal and political resistance to their attempt to dismantle USAID. Despite claims of success on social media, Congressional members from both parties are pushing back, and official government documents acknowledge that major restructuring requires Congressional approval and cannot be done unilaterally.

Summarized by ThreadOut AI from the full thread. May miss nuance — read the thread below.

#1
Might not feel this way on twitter - but back here on earth, DOGE did not have a great day yesterday on the @USAID front. Elon's attempt to speedrun the destruction of USAID is starting to hit real legal and political bumps. The pushback is starting - and must be sustained. 🧵
#2
Congress is waking up to what is happening, on both sides of the aisle. Big spontaneous rally outside of USAID HQ yesterday with a sizable contingent of Congressional Dems defending the agency.
Senator Brian Schatz@SenBrianSchatz · Feb 3, 2025
There will be suffering all over the world because of Trump and Musk’s illegal attempts to dismantle USAID. They are counting on some sense of inevitability. We have to stand up, and we will.
#3
GOP is waking up as well. Multiple Republican senators weighed in yesterday criticizing the Rubio aid freeze. Notable that they're doing so publicly.
#4
Increasing public awareness and scrutiny of the DOGE staff members who have seemingly taken over USAID's systems.
WIRED@WIRED · Feb 2, 2025
If you’ve been wondering what Elon Musk and his lackeys are up to since taking control of the US government, look no further. Our latest story names six 19- to 24-year-olds working with his DOGE organization, which now has access to sensitive federal systems. wired.com/story/elon-mus…
#5
Importantly, the actual document that Rubio sent up to the Hill yesterday contradicts Elon's assertion that the agency is gone. And contra Elon, it also acknowledges that any major re-org of US aid policy must involve Congress.
#6
This is notable because outside of the twitter echo chamber, the USG still runs based on laws - a reality that the document acknowledges multiple times. It's clear they still aim to absorb USAID into State - but they're also acknowledging they can't do so unilaterally.
#7
Meanwhile Congress has affirmed that same reality. A new report out from Congress' in-house authorities at the Congressional Research Service states this explicitly: crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IN…
#8
Outside of Elon's twitter feed, here's where things actually stand: - DOGE staff acting on unclear legal authority have attempted to unlawfully shut down a federal agency - In doing so they have compromised sensitive government personnel, procurement, and classified info systems
#9
- These actions have badly disrupted critical US-funded activities around the world and placed taxpayer-funded resources and assets at grave risk of waste or abuse - US personnel operating overseas have been put at grave risk by being expelled from Embassy security & oversight
#10
- USAID continues to exist as a legal entity, per State Dept notice to Congress; Rubio & Marocco in charge - But most staff at the agency are being obstructed from carrying out their lawful duties - Congressional funding mandates are being violated by the State funding freeze
#11
- Russia is cheering all of this on from the sidelines (wonder why??) - And vital USAID programs that save lives and advance US values and interests around the world remain disrupted and frozen.
#12
To be clear: this situation is still a disaster. But there are some hopeful signs here that this attack on USAID will not pass unchallenged. Important to keep up the pressure! usaidstopwork.com/rallyinformati…