This was an interesting surprise. Elon Musk has done many big things to help humans and society, but he has also done many big things to hurt them. Of all the things Elon Musk has done that have had a negative effect on humans and society, killing USAID ranks up there at or near the top. Countless people, including babies and children, have died from the careless, cruel, sudden demolition of USAID. There may have been issues here or there to improve or fix within the vast USAID program, but USAID overall was a massively net positive, helpful program that didn’t at all deserve to be demolished like it was. Republicans and Democrats alike have supported USAID for decades because it’s such a clearly good agency. It’s not just good because it helps to save lives around the world, but also more selfishly from a US perspective because it brings goodwill for the United States, positive attitudes about the United States, and political negotiating power to the United States around the world. Unfortunately, because of things that appear to be very narrowly, selfishly, and foolishly motivated, this was Elon Musk’s most obvious and infamous action as the head of the short-lived “DOGE” (“Department of Government Efficiency”) initiative — killing USAID. The results have been catastrophic. Not only have the results been horrible for the reasons mentioned above, but also because many US farmers relied on big purchases from USAID in order to keep their businesses — farms — afloat. Abruptly canceling USAID meant canceling significant customer orders for US farmers. So, with that in mind, it’s not that surprising to find out that there’s a group of Republicans trying to bring back USAID — yes, perhaps for the more noble and internationally strategic reasons discussed at the top, but also for rural economy reasons. Anyway, let’s get to the news. “A group pushing Republicans to restore foreign aid slashed by Elon Musk’s Doge is targeting key swing districts with a multimillion-dollar advertising spree ahead of the US midterm elections,” the Financial Times reports. “The Campaign for America First International Assistance, funded by conservatives who believe the US has a moral and strategic imperative to help poorer countries, has already spent more than $1mn in Pennsylvania, Iowa and Arizona and plans to target more districts.” Hmm. Moral imperative? Are these people in the same party as Donald Trump? Perhaps there are some in the party who are ready to seriously push back and build some momentum in another direction. Perhaps…. We’ll see how effective this initiative is to start. “Our focus is to try and ensure that there is as much funding as possible for the life-saving, evidence-backed programmes that are run and funded by the US and ultimately save tens of millions of lives around the world” said Nate Soule, the Republican strategist hired to lead CAFIA. Sounds good to me. “This is an issue where if a Republican talks about the work they’ve done, especially in swing districts, there’s a sizeable number of Democrats and even more independents who say they’re more likely to vote for them.” Yes, but can they deliver? Reportedly, a Trump pollster found in 2025 that more than 70% of Trump voters and more than 77% of Evangelical voters supported the US providing international aid. In general, most people — including in the key swing districts being targeted — support international aid. Thanks to Trump’s disastrous effect on the economy and via the war on Iran, Democrats are looking likely to take back the House of Representatives, and maybe even the Senate. So, different political actors in the party are trying to find a way to change the expectations. Do these people actually care about international aid, or is it just a political strategy? I’m hopeful it’s the former, but I’m still skeptical they can make any difference as long as Don “the Con” Trump is president. “Anybody that pays attention to government and has ever paid attention to USAID believed, as I did, that they do very good work,” Trump Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said last year. But has she gotten USAID brought back? No. The crew behind this new international aid push, though, is readying itself for life post-Trump in the Republican Party, and apparently wants to go in this direction. “America is strongest when we help our farmers stop starvation,” a CAFIA ad running in Iowa states. Another ad running in Wisconsin to support a member of Congress states that he “delivered millions for Wisconsin’s top research centres to fight deadly diseases and protect children.” Personally, I’d much rather see Republicans in power who care about people and protecting human life, but it’s also worth remembering that this is the party that cut USAID and that has consistently voted against giving basic life-saving support to Americans as well.
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