Weekly Beat: February 14, 2025
- Voice for Values
- Feb 14
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 24
A Letter From Voice For Values Founder, Judy Stahl
USAID: More personal than you know
In November, 1961, President John F. Kennedy founded the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to streamline the administration of aid to developing countries under a single entity of the federal government. As the richest, most important democracy in the world, the United States has administered this agency for over six decades to alleviate the suffering of humanity across the globe. It has reflected our values as a nation; values laid out in our Constitution and carefully nurtured over nearly two hundred and fifty years of our Great Experiment as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
The US employs 'soft power' through USAID. Soft power includes providing a broad variety of help to areas worldwide where it is needed the most; help such as food, healthcare, and modest yet safe housing. Soft power fosters relationships through goodwill and trust built over time among those who might otherwise be vulnerable to the influence of our enemies. Soft power is not flashy, but it is deep. Emotionally mature folks understand that it is the right thing to do.
By crippling our ability to provide aid abroad, DOGE is providing our enemies with all the ammunition they need to be able to swoop into the vacuum thus created. As importantly, the actions of the Trump 2.0 administration are decimating the relationships we have built which provide us with critical intelligence to keep our military safe abroad and that keep us safe here at home. National security is not just based on weapons and armies. National security is most fundamentally based on, often subtle yet profound, human relationships.
The annihilation of this premier agency, USAID, is also causing shock and difficulties for folks of all political stripes. Farmers in Kansas who have contracted with USAID for years to provide billions of tons of food aid, have suddenly lost their entire means of livelihood. An 8-months pregnant woman working at a Non-Governmental Organization in DC has suddenly and without warning lost both her job and her health insurance, with no consideration for her security or that of her unborn child. Multiply these stories by tens of thousands of dedicated American workers who have now been sabotaged by cruel men who will never know the worries that more than nine out of ten Americans would experience under the same circumstances.
I say again, elections have consequences, and those consequences are coming at us fast and hard, but that does not mean that we are relegated to wringing our hands and sitting by helplessly watching in agony. We cannot, we must not, allow the wholesale destruction of our American democratic way of life to this coup, by people who simply DO NOT CARE about anyone but themselves.On behalf of the America our forefathers and mothers envisioned and strived for, the America that so many have given their lives to defend and protect over the last 250 years, I fervently urge you to take action now. It is up to us to stop them.
For the future,
Judy
Main Story: A comprehensive list of the cuts DOGE has made thus far
By: Voice for Values Team
Elon Musk’s DOGE has been slashing and burning through key government programs without restraint, labeling his cuts as waste, with no evidence. Here at Voice for Values, we thought it was important to highlight the cuts most critical to American security and prosperity.
As it was eloquently put in our founder’s note, USAID is a U.S. government agency responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. Its mission is to promote global development, humanitarian aid, and economic growth while advancing U.S. foreign policy interests.
USAID works in various sectors, including:
Global Health (disease prevention, maternal and child health)
Democracy and Governance (supporting human rights, governance, and free elections)
Economic Growth (trade, infrastructure, and job creation)
Education (access to quality education and literacy programs)
Climate and Environment (disaster response, sustainability, and climate change adaptation)
Humanitarian Assistance (responding to natural disasters and conflicts)
As noted by Ms. Stahl, the elimination of USAID cripples our ability to employ what is known as “soft power” or the use of goodwill activity to build economic and intelligence partnerships for the mutual benefit of the United States and the areas they work in. In the weeks since USAID was dismantled, many abroad have immediately lost access to necessary medical treatment, food, shelter and more. We at home lost a critical part of our security apparatus and many lost their livelihoods.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a U.S. government agency that regulates financial products and services to protect consumers. It was created in 2010 in response to the 2008 financial crisis to regulate the banking sector in order to prevent the malfeasance that led to the biggest global economic crash since the Great Depression. Its primary function is anti-fraud enforcement and rule-making to protect consumers. Some notable accomplishments in it’s short tenure include:
Fining Wells Fargo billions for opening new accounts without customer authorization.
Cracking down on predatory payday lending practices.
Creating protection for mortgage holders to prevent unfair foreclosures.
While some agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) hold some role in consumer protection, there is no other agency wholly dedicated to consumer protection and enforcement in the federal government.
This one hasn’t actually happened yet, although DOGE cancelled several DOE contracts just this week. Recent reports state that the Trump administration is preparing an executive order to dismantle the department entirely, with no plans to replace critical functions including:
Distributing federal education funds, including Title 1 funding to low-income schools.
Enforcing civil rights in education.
Managing federal student aid for higher education.
Establishing Education Policy, Innovation, and Research
Unlike the case with the CFPB, there is no government administration that has the capacity or focus to take on the myriad of responsibilities the DOE oversees.
Our Take
The cuts being made are certainly shocking, disheartening, and chaos-inducing, but most importantly, they are unconstitutional. Only the United States Congress has the constitutional authority to decide on spending or dismantle agencies. The President is empowered to create agencies, but once they have done so those agencies' budgets and existence fall under the purview of Congress.
Is there waste in government? Certainly. But the cuts currently being made are a drop in the bucket in terms of the federal budget and serve critical needs for communities across the country and abroad. Cuts should be focused on true waste, verified by publicized evidence in the form of full-spectrum government reports and good journalism, not hearsay posted on X. They should be approved by the branch of our government that is constitutionally approved to do so, the legislative branch. We have checks and balances for a reason. Our leaders owe it to us to obey them.
Take Action: DOGE Operations NEED Congressional Approval
Senator Gary Peters, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee for Homeland Security and Government Affiars, was joined by his Democratic colleagues this week in a call to pause the unconstitutional actions of DOGE. You can read the full letter here, then ask your Senator to sign on.
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