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Democrats Sure Threw a Fit About USAID

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  February 04, 2025 12:15 PM

With President Donald Trump in office once more, there's been considerable reform that was sorely needed but not present during the Biden-Harris administration. Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are certainly doing their part, but that's not all. On Monday, Trump froze the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for review. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is now the acting director. 

Of course, the left collectively flipped out, with some Democratic members of Congress having more extreme reactions than others. 

With the announcement made on Monday, many Democrats were as quick to react as they were vocal. Oversight of USAID is sorely necessary, not just regarding the waste, as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt highlighted, but how the money wound up in the hands of nefarious actors. 

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), a member of the Squad, was chief among those riled up. It's worth reminding that she's had misfortunes in international matters in other ways, as she was kicked off of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in February 2023, not long after Republicans gained control of the House for the 2022 midterm elections.

With several other Democrats behind her, Omar took to the microphone to make clear she was "exceptionally upset about USAID," as she reminded how she previously lived in a refugee camp, as if that was at all relevant to the waste and abuse. "It is the essential programs that USAID provided that kept my family and I safe," she claimed, while her fellow Democrats dutifully nodded in the background. "It is the resources that so many people around the world rely on!"

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Omar began that same speech with hyperbolic language as "It is really, really a sad day in America," claiming, "We are witnessing a constitutional crisis." It got worse from there. "We talked about Trump wanting to be a dictator on day one and here we are," she continued, referencing comments Trump clearly made in jest. "This is what the beginning of dictatorship looks like, when you gut the Constitution and you install yourself as the sole power, that is how dictators are made!" She then claimed that Trump and Musk "are trying to take away the constitutional power of Congress!"

Just about anything that Trump does is considered the mark of a "dictator" to these people. Former Vice President Kamala Harris made such rhetoric a focus of her campaign, and she lost last November, badly.

Omar has proudly stood by her remarks, insulting Fox News host Laura Ingraham in a quoted repost of her own, reposting others who share her remarks, as well as anti-Israel journalist Mehdi Hasan when it comes to calling out Elon Musk for apartheid and referring to him as "the boy" because he dared to refer to Omar as someone who is "a major grifter and hates America."

The press conference was held outside of the USAID building, where, as The Hill reported, Democrats were not allowed inside. So instead, they carried on their performances outside.

The report focuses on Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who led the group of Democrats from both chambers:

The Democratic lawmakers, who are opposed to President Trump’s efforts to shut down the agency, left without incident after a brief exchange with security officials. The group, led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), were told the front office of the administrator of USAID was not available to meet. 

A select group of USAID employees with the front office administrator were in the office Monday, an official told lawmakers outside the doors, but were not free to meet with the lawmakers.

“Underwhelming,” one Democratic lawmaker said about being blocked from entering. 

The USAID website went dark over the weekend, as information was moved to the State Department’s website and employees were told to telework. 

...

Van Hollen has said lawmakers are working to file legal proceedings to stop the Trump administration, Musk, and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from “undoing USAID.”

“We’re working with lawyers to try and get an injunction,” Van Hollen said.

Lawmakers assembled a press conference outside USAID headquarters in Washington D.C. to protest the assault on the agency. 

Though the Democratic member quoted as referring to being blocked from entering the building as "[u]nderwhelming" isn't named, it certainly doesn't sound like all were in agreement, especially given Omar's remarks and her aggressive tone. 

One other Democrat, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), had an arguably even more extreme response, considering he didn't merely act with words. He's vowed to stall Trump's nominees to the State Department until USAID is back. During the Biden-Harris administration, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) tried the same with Pentagon nominees over the administration's illegal abortion tourism, which has since been rescinded under this administration. His holds ultimately failed after a handful of fellow Republican senators caved in supporting him. 

It doesn't look like the Trump administration will be deterred. From the start, Rubio had a message for critics of the move, highlighting how USAID has refused to be forthcoming.