If you want evidence that Democrats have learned nothing from their November 5 shellacking, just watch this video.
It’s from a protest outside the Capitol last week at which Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, one of several top lawmakers in attendance, led chants of “Hey, hey, ho, ho! Elon Musk has got to go!”—and vowed to protect USAID in the courts, or by threatening parliamentary maneuvers against President Trump’s nominees.
In policy terms, the Democrats have a point. The legality of DOGE’s strike on the agency is unclear. For the incredible amount of wasteful stuff in its budget—why did USAID grant $1.5 million for “diversity, equity, and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities”—USAID also provides basic aid, like nutrition and health assistance, to needy countries.
But politically, none of that matters a whit. Trump occupies the high ground in this fight, which is probably why he and Musk picked it. If voters dislike anything, it’s bureaucracy and foreign aid. And USAID is a 10,000-employee bureaucracy—housed in a palatial building on prime downtown real estate—that spends $40 billion a year on other countries.