LGBTI activism, trans operas and other senseless spending by USAID, the agency Musk wants to shut down

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) closed its offices Feb. 3, in Washington, D.C., after Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency, took steps to exert control over the foreign aid organization. Musk said that President Trump had agreed to the shutdown and that when investigating this agency it is clear that it is not a wormy apple but "a ball of worms."

Meanwhile Trump assured that the agency "has been run by a group of radical lunatics and we are taking them out...and then we will make a decision." For his part, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: "My frustrations with USAID goes back to my time in Congress. It's a completely unresponsive agency, it's supposed to respond to policy directives of the state department and it refuses to do so."

What is USAID?

This agency was created in 1961 under the administration of President John F. Kennedy and is in charge of administering international aid to different countries. Among its functions is to help fight hunger, give aid to countries devastated by war, organize efforts against human trafficking and fight diseases such as HIV, among other causes.

In fiscal year 2024, the agency managed a budget of approximately $44.2 billion. In 2023, the budget was $50.3 billion. The agency employs more than 10,000 people, most of them working from overseas.

Promotion of LGBTI ideology and other senseless spending

Over the years, USAID has been criticized for some of the funding and projects it has carried out around the world. Donald Trump has pointed out that $100 million managed by USAID were sent to pay for condoms in Gaza. Different reports have denounced that condoms have been used by Hamas to build improvised explosive devices.

Between 1995 and 1997, USAID funded a forced sterilization program in Peru. Various reports have confirmed that USAID's Lima office, after signing an agreement with the government of that country, took control of the health sector during the years when these abuses occurred.

The agency has also funded the promotion of "sexual diversity" and abortion for years. During the Biden administration, USAID was authorized to give millions in funding to pro-abortion organizations such as Marie Stopes International (MSI). This organization said during the Obama administration that USAID provided 17% of its total donor revenue.

President Trump's press secretary has said that among the agency's expenditures are: $1.5 million to promote "diversity, equity and inclusion" in workplaces in Serbia, $70,000 for the production of a musical on "diversity equity and inclusion" in Ireland, $47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia and $32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday of the agency's management: "Every dollar we spend will be aligned with the national interest of the United States. USAID has a history of ignoring that and deciding that they're a global charity. These are not donor dollars, these are taxpayer dollars. We owe the American people assurances that every dollar we are spending abroad is being spent on something that furthers our national interest."

This effort to modify and restructure USAID is part of Trump's pledge to reduce government spending and Elon Musk's intentions to radically shrink the size of government and the bureaucracy. Although it is unclear at this point whether the Trump administration's intention is to eliminate it or just restructure it, both Musk and Secretary Rubio are already taking long strides to change the direction of this agency.

If the administration ultimately decides to eliminate USAID, Trump would have to seek the help of Congress, which when creating it gave it independent legal authorities, so dissolving it as an independent agency would require a new law.