Commenting on the shutdown of USAID and the issuance of reduction in workforce notices to staff, Brandon Wu, ActionAid USA’s Director of Policy and Campaigns, said:
“Like many of the Trump administration’s recent actions, its attempt to eliminate USAID falls well outside the power granted to the executive branch under the Constitution. The attack on USAID and the attempt to unilaterally cut most foreign assistance programs have already disrupted critical aid efforts, jeopardizing lives and stability globally.
At its best, U.S. foreign aid saves lives, contributes to global stability, and upholds human rights and dignity. Right now, we should be deploying people and resources to the Southeast Asian countries just hit by a devastating earthquake. Unfortunately, the administration has fired all the people and frozen all the funding.
The administration is testing the limits of its power, from shutting down entire federal agencies to rejecting the right of public employees to unionize to literally kidnapping noncitizens off the street. All of these actions are illegal and deeply harmful, for people here and, in the case of shutting down USAID, around the world. Any elected official who believes in our system of democracy and freedom must stand up to the administration now, before it’s too late.”
ENDS
For media requests, please email christal.james@actionaid.org or call 7046659743.
About ActionAid
ActionAid is a global federation working with more than 41 million people living in more than 71 countries, including some of the world’s poorest countries. We want to see a just, fair, and sustainable world in which everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity and freedom from poverty and oppression. We work to achieve social justice and gender equality and to eradicate poverty, including by shifting power to local organizations and movements.
