Summary

Elon Musk announced the closure of USAID during a DOGE update on X, calling it “a ball of worms” and “beyond repair.”

The decision follows reports of internal conflicts over DOGE’s involvement in restricted areas. Trump backed the move, criticizing USAID leadership.

An internal email instructed non-essential staff to stay home. The Trump administration pressures USAID to align with its America First agenda.

Critics see Musk’s remarks as informal and conspiracy-driven.

  • @[email protected]
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    15011 days ago

    This is from another article about this situation yesterday:

    To back up his claim, Musk shared a summation of a relevant statute compiled by Grok, an artificial intelligence service run by his social media app, X.

    Just to show you how fucking stupid this all is.

    • @[email protected]
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      7811 days ago

      They’re speedrunning dismantling the government, while everyone is staring in disbelief, muttering “This can’t be possible, surely they aren’t allowed to do this?”

      Well, they don’t care. And it works, cause all the “watchdogs” are overwhelmed by their speed.

  • @withabeard
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    12011 days ago

    The party that wants to ban abortion to “save the children” has just condemned, quite literally millions of, children around the world to slow and agonising deaths from entirely treatable illnesses.

        • @[email protected]
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          1511 days ago

          Which, hard to tell while unborn, but it doesn’t matter because it’s really about controlling women.

    • @Zachariah
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      911 days ago

      “save the children fetuses”

        • tabris
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          711 days ago

          Specifically, control of women, their bodies and their freedom.

  • @Sanctus
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    9511 days ago

    An unelected official is seizing control of our government departments and transforming them how he sees fit. Where have I seen this before? Hmmmm

  • @Hobbes_Dent
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    9111 days ago

    Who is this guy anyway?

    Serious question for America. Maybe if you write it down it’ll stick.

    • @FiremanEdsRevenge
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      16211 days ago

      An illegal nazi immigrant edge lord from Africa with daddy issues.

    • @Ledivin
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      2411 days ago

      The one that bought the country

  • Bo7a
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    8211 days ago

    Everything is always beyond repair to this fuckstick. I think he may just be horrible at everything.

    • @dovah
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      4111 days ago

      “Repairability” of anything is often correlated with skill level. Everything is beyond repair if you don’t know what you’re doing.

      • @pahlimur
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        11 days ago

        Never thought of repairability this way. Weirdly helped with some anxiety I’ve been having recently. Thank you random internet person.

      • @CharlesDarwin
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        711 days ago

        Very great way to put it. Applies in so many contexts. I see the exact same kind of thing at work - some seagull manager cannot understand an existing thing, but wants to effect some kind of change, often will insist on replacing it.

        By the time the impact of their stupid decision starts to hit, they’ll be long gone…probably being paid even more extravagantly…

      • @grue
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        711 days ago

        And also if you hate it and want an excuse to throw it out.

  • @NocturnalMorning
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    11 days ago

    He doesn’t have any authority. Just ignore him and tell him to gtfo of the building.

    • @[email protected]
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      3011 days ago

      No. He very much has the authority and backing of his puppet in the white house and the entire magat complex as a result.

      Just look at USAID and the like.

    • @dragontamer
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      1611 days ago

      Trump is backing Musk. So I USAID is gone overnight.

      Maybe there will be some court cases but Trump owns security and Musk is in charge of personnel now.

      • @NocturnalMorning
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        511 days ago

        Sure, but congress is in charge of changes to these agencies. A president and his goons can’t just wipe one off the books bcz he feels like it. It’s called checks and balances for a reason.

        • Rhaedas
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          1811 days ago

          It’s called checks and balances for a reason.

          Should be kicking in anytime now. Any…time. Hmmm. Anyone seems some checks and balances laying around?

        • @dragontamer
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          11 days ago

          No.

          The President and his cabinet is put in charge of these agencies by Congress.

          Congress is too slow to lead agencies. The design of our system is for executives to lead, not committees.

          • @NocturnalMorning
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            411 days ago

            I’m fairly certain the president can’t simply dissolve an agency carte Blanca without any outside input.

            • @dragontamer
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              310 days ago

              Or else what?

              If there’s no enforcement mechanism, then yeah the President can do it.

    • @[email protected]
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      1411 days ago

      He doesn’t have the authority, but he does have the power.

      Do not ignore him, because he is already doing it piece by piece.

  • @CharlesDarwin
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    2811 days ago

    Um, I know we are beyond any kind of laws and norms here, but in their fictional universe/head canon, how can an agency that is not a real government agency shut down a real agency?

    • @grue
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      911 days ago

      By being more willing to inflict violence than the people trying to defend it.

    • Kairos
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      811 days ago

      “Can” and “may” are two different words.

  • @AA5B
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    1911 days ago

    It’s the supercharger team issue all over again - if someone has the gall to say no, throw a tantrum and fire them all. We’ll see if anyone wants to be hired back

    The supercharger team was a long term dominance item that would be key to the business so you don’t shut them down during high growth. In this case it’s probably as simple as someone taking their responsibilities to the government and country seriously. Access to confidential data is not a good place to shortcut your process

  • @someguy3
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    10 days ago

    I laughed at the ball of worms. He’s talking as if he did a deep technical analysis over the past *cough* 1 day to come to this logical unbiased conclusion. The man was on a mission without regard to anything to burn it down since who knows when.

  • Maple Engineer
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    410 days ago

    Warm up the guillotines, boys.

    Nationalize everything Musk owns

  • @lack
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    110 days ago

    Times like these I wish @elonjet did more than track that effer’s plane