Into the Wood Chipper

A Whistleblower’s Account of How the Trump Administration Shredded USAID In the months that followed, USAID became the first target of Elon Musk’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The mission to which Enrich had dedicated his career was being dismantled before his eyes—even the name of the agency was removed from the building’s … [Read more…]

One Year Later – Mortimer ’93 on the Dismantling of USAID

In January 2025, Denise Mortimer ’93 was entering her 16th year working for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the face of American humanitarianism around the world for nearly 65 years. By summer, she and roughly 10,000 of her USAID colleagues had been dismissed—casualties of the Trump administration’s dismantling of the federal agency. MORE

Trump expands policy banning aid to groups abroad that discuss or provide abortions

For over four decades, Republican presidents have banned U.S. funds from going to groups that provide or promote abortion — and Democratic presidents have reversed the ban. On Friday at the March for Life rally in Washington, D.C., Vice President JD Vance announced a major expansion of the policy. The Mexico City policy, named for … [Read more…]

The true cost behind destroying $9.7M of contraceptives

Destroying taxpayer-funded contraceptive supplies threatens to fracture supply chains and wrest agency, health, and ultimately, life from women and girls in low- and middle-income countries. The U.S. Government announced plans this month to destroy more than $9.7 million worth of family planning supplies* intended for women and girls in low- and middle-income countries. These products, … [Read more…]

USAID – The purge

Donald Trump’s destruction of the civil service is a tragedy not just for the roughly 300,000 workers who have been discarded, but for an entire nation. The purge began late Friday night, four days after Donald Trump returned to the White House. Seventeen inspectors general—internal watchdogs embedded throughout the federal government—received emails notifying them of … [Read more…]

A top Zimbabwe malaria research center killed by USAID closure, resurrected by UMC

MUTARE, ZIMBABWE — Insectary assistants collect the specimens by sucking into a straw-like pump. But they don’t mistakenly swallow any, joked senior insectary assistant Petro Kawadza during a demonstration. It’s part of the critical service a malaria research center at Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe provides to the whole nation. This collection of hundreds of … [Read more…]

Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.

On the one-month anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier this year, a group of his appointed aides gathered to celebrate. For four weeks, they had been working overtime to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, freezing thousands of programs, including ones that provided food, water and medicine around the world. They’d culled USAID’s … [Read more…]