Senator warns legal victory may not stop USAID restructuring plans

MUNICH — Despite a federal judge's order blocking the Trump administration's foreign assistance freeze on existing contracts, the attempted dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development could signal the beginning of a broader effort to reshape multiple federal agencies, U.S. Sen. Andy Kim has warned. "If this plan succeeds for them, this will be the playbook by which they go after the Consumer Protection Bureau, FEMA, the Department of Education, and other things," Kim, a Democrat from New Jersey, told Devex at the Munich Security Conference. The administration's rapid moves to freeze foreign aid, downsize USAID, and fold it into the State Department have sparked a flurry of legal challenges. While officials insist it’s a “review” of foreign assistance, Kim, a former USAID civil servant, called it something else entirely: “clearly well beyond what is legal.” “They are trying to make the argument that this is a review that they're pausing to assess, but they're not,” Kim said, pointing to plans to reduce USAID staffing to about 600 people and place the agency under State Department control — moves he argued require congressional approval. The approach tracks with the vision of Russell Vought, the new Office of Management and Budget director, who has spoken of the need to “move fast and break as much as possible,” according to Kim. He revealed that Vought specifically used the word “traumatize” when discussing his intentions toward public servants. “The USAID employees that I talked to, they are traumatized,” said Kim, having previously served as a USAID civil servant himself under both Republican and Democratic presidents. “I find that to be so obscene that a leader in our American government is trying to traumatize patriots that are working to serve our nation.” Congressional gridlock Yesterday’s federal court ruling temporarily blocks the administration from halting USAID spending on existing programs, reversing the State Department’s stop-work order — a crucial win for implementing partners who had warned of devastating financial, humanitarian, and development consequences. But Kim expressed frustration with Congress’ limited response, blaming it on Republican control of both chambers. “If the Senate or House were to take legal action, it would have to come from the speaker of the House or the majority leader of the Senate," he explained. “At this point, those [Republican] leaders ... are not looking to stand up to [Trump].” Kim said Democratic senators began meeting with state attorneys general before the election in November to get a sense of what legal action they could take and what legislative or oversight capacity they'd have over certain actions by the Trump administration. That effort appears to be bearing fruit given yesterday’s legal victory, with Kim noting that the Trump administration lost 80% of their legal challenges during the previous term. International implications At Munich, Kim said there are widespread concerns about U.S. isolation from allies. “People here in Munich are worried [this] is really going to fracture a coalition at a time when we need that coalition to stand up against these threats that we face,” he said. The senator warned that the administration's actions could have serious geopolitical fallout. “This is seeding the ground to our adversaries and our competitors. This is making Vladimir Putin and President Xi very happy right now, because we are basically saying American leadership is going to step back and take on an isolationist policy.” Looking ahead With budget negotiations and continuing resolution deadlines ahead, Kim raised a critical question: Even if Congress secures foreign assistance funding, will the administration actually implement it? “What assurances do we have that this executive branch will actually carry that out when we see the lawlessness with which they are engaged in this?” he asked. Kim sees this moment as a stress test for U.S. governance itself. “What we've learned over the last eight years or so is that a lot of the things that we thought were checks and balances really are just normative behavior,” Kim reflected. “If we were to get to a place where both the legislature is not going to stand up for itself and the executive is defying the judicial branch, we are in uncharted territory as a union.”