
by Joseph P. Duggan
February 18, 2025
“No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size,” said Ronald Reagan. “Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth!”
Donald Trump and Elon Musk today are trying to prove Reagan’s adage wrong. They are moving to dismantle and defund the foreign aid bureaucracy of the U.S. Agency for International Development and its many contractors and grant recipients.
Lasting success for this mission requires more than eliminating spending and jobs within USAID and its Beltway Bandit “implementing partners.” It also calls for defunding federal and state government support for sinecures held by former USAID bosses and their hangers-on — including many Republicans-in-name-only.
(RELATED: Trump Should Shutter USAID —…



