USAID is a sh!#show

[Anonymous]

Not all staff put on leave were SES; some are GS. They were not told why they were put on leave.

[Anonymous]

USAID needs to cut down to less than 20% from its current levels and they need to place employees elsewhere if possible. I agree with the contractor bloat which is other reason the current employees seem useless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These layoffs were unfortunate of course but there is so much redundancy and bloat at the agency. It needed to be trimmed. Next up, they need to trim back all the term limited positions, including the Foreign Service limited. It's a detriment to the real Foreign Service and to the Civil Service. Over the last 4 years they have brought in hundreds of people under this mechanism, many of whom are not technical specialists in their areas.

+1. This post was started long ago complaining of these very things. Now it's getting fixed. Imagine that!

[Anonymous]

It would be truly ironic if corporations have free speech and therefore their political donations could not be limited but those citizens working for the federal government and legally permitted to make campaign donations were fired because of their political donations and thus are not able to enjoy rights that corporations have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:USAID needs to cut down to less than 20% from its current levels and they need to place employees elsewhere if possible. I agree with the contractor bloat which is other reason the current employees seem useless.

20% is ridiculous. You are just pulling that # out of your a&@

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not all staff put on leave were SES; some are GS. They were not told why they were put on leave.

I heard it was virtually all SES plus others, including all the (GS) staff ethics attorneys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not all staff put on leave were SES; some are GS. They were not told why they were put on leave.

I heard it was virtually all SES plus others, including all the (GS) staff ethics attorneys.

One of the worst people I’ve come across - domestic violence and SA denier - is/was? an attorney there - I hope he was placed on leave. I cannot tell if they’ve updated the website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tapper was clarifying whether Trump’s sudden order to halt funding for grants and loans would affect free school lunches when Miller decided to raise a different point.

“I want to really drill down on this, Jake, because it’s so important,” Miller opened. “There’s two million employees in the federal government. Overwhelmingly, the career federal service in this country is far left, left-wing.”

mWhen Tapper countered that he did not know that to be a fact, Miller said “98%” of USAID employees donated to either Harris or “another left-wing candidate” in the last election.

“But now you’re demonizing an entire workforce as having…” Tapper began to say.

“Wait, woah woah woah woah,” Miller responded. “Did you just say that saying someone voted for Kamala Harris is demonizing them?”

Tapper retorted that Miller was suggesting “there’s a bias” among federal workers.

“You used the word ‘demonizing.’ You just said that I’m demonizing somebody by saying they voted for Kamala Harris,” Miller said.

The CNN anchor tried to get the interview “back on track,” but Miller had just a bit more to say about federal workers’ politics.

“I am on track, let me stay on track,” Miller replied.

It’s frightening that they tracked whom all USAID employees donated to.

I can't believe 98% of USAID employees donated to any political campaign. The Feds I work with are cheap (I am one). Very few would feel donating money to a campaign is something they should spend money on.

Perhaps 98% of those who did overcome their cheapness to donate did donate to Harris or someone on the left. But I am betting the total number of donors was very small.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not all staff put on leave were SES; some are GS. They were not told why they were put on leave.

I heard it was virtually all SES plus others, including all the (GS) staff ethics attorneys.

Yes, and some non-attorney GS too, including some low level GS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:USAID needs to cut down to less than 20% from its current levels and they need to place employees elsewhere if possible. I agree with the contractor bloat which is other reason the current employees seem useless.

20% is ridiculous. You are just pulling that # out of your a&@

Do you know how much bloat there is at USAID? Most of the employees and contractors are on telework status and barely do anything. Also, why we need to spend money in other countries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:USAID needs to cut down to less than 20% from its current levels and they need to place employees elsewhere if possible. I agree with the contractor bloat which is other reason the current employees seem useless.

20% is ridiculous. You are just pulling that # out of your a&@

Do you know how much bloat there is at USAID? Most of the employees and contractors are on telework status and barely do anything. Also, why we need to spend money in other countries.

Ok, well you're outing yourself as someone who has no idea what goes on at USAID.

Everyone I know -- and I've worked there for 15 years -- is extremely busy all the time. We have big jobs and smart people.

But we're also public servants. There is no secret plot to circumvent the president or whatever. People may not always agree personally with a decision but we get it done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tapper was clarifying whether Trump’s sudden order to halt funding for grants and loans would affect free school lunches when Miller decided to raise a different point.

“I want to really drill down on this, Jake, because it’s so important,” Miller opened. “There’s two million employees in the federal government. Overwhelmingly, the career federal service in this country is far left, left-wing.”

mWhen Tapper countered that he did not know that to be a fact, Miller said “98%” of USAID employees donated to either Harris or “another left-wing candidate” in the last election.

“But now you’re demonizing an entire workforce as having…” Tapper began to say.

“Wait, woah woah woah woah,” Miller responded. “Did you just say that saying someone voted for Kamala Harris is demonizing them?”

Tapper retorted that Miller was suggesting “there’s a bias” among federal workers.

“You used the word ‘demonizing.’ You just said that I’m demonizing somebody by saying they voted for Kamala Harris,” Miller said.

The CNN anchor tried to get the interview “back on track,” but Miller had just a bit more to say about federal workers’ politics.

“I am on track, let me stay on track,” Miller replied.

It’s frightening that they tracked whom all USAID employees donated to.

I can't believe 98% of USAID employees donated to any political campaign. The Feds I work with are cheap (I am one). Very few would feel donating money to a campaign is something they should spend money on.

Perhaps 98% of those who did overcome their cheapness to donate did donate to Harris or someone on the left. But I am betting the total number of donors was very small.

This exactly. I said this yesterday. No way 98 percent donated to any campaign. It is another lie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:USAID needs to cut down to less than 20% from its current levels and they need to place employees elsewhere if possible. I agree with the contractor bloat which is other reason the current employees seem useless.

20% is ridiculous. You are just pulling that # out of your a&@

Do you know how much bloat there is at USAID? Most of the employees and contractors are on telework status and barely do anything. Also, why we need to spend money in other countries.

To creat a more stable, safe world (terrorism doesn’t breed rampantly in open societies where people have food security, healthcare, education, and jobs). To create free markets for American goods. To help people suffering from natural disasters, war, disease, and famine. We are a very interconnected world. Some see usaid’s work as a moral imperative to help the less fortunate, but there are absolutely lots of concrete benefits for Americans that go beyond helping the less fortunate.

Usaid’s work, and the work of other agencies who do foreign assistance, has had consistent support by both democratic and republican administrations. There are different opinions on what should be prioritized, but that the work should be done has been a shared value. Pepfar (president’s emergency plains for AIDS relief) was created under George W. Bush.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These layoffs were unfortunate of course but there is so much redundancy and bloat at the agency. It needed to be trimmed. Next up, they need to trim back all the term limited positions, including the Foreign Service limited. It's a detriment to the real Foreign Service and to the Civil Service. Over the last 4 years they have brought in hundreds of people under this mechanism, many of whom are not technical specialists in their areas.

+1. This post was started long ago complaining of these very things. Now it's getting fixed. Imagine that!

It's not getting fixed. They are not trying to solve the problems and issues with USAID. They are just hacking away at it with a machete. I don’t think anyone who posted before this administration go power wanted the agency to be dismantled. They wanted it to be fixed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:USAID needs to cut down to less than 20% from its current levels and they need to place employees elsewhere if possible. I agree with the contractor bloat which is other reason the current employees seem useless.

20% is ridiculous. You are just pulling that # out of your a&@

Do you know how much bloat there is at USAID? Most of the employees and contractors are on telework status and barely do anything. Also, why we need to spend money in other countries.

Ok, well you're outing yourself as someone who has no idea what goes on at USAID.

Everyone I know -- and I've worked there for 15 years -- is extremely busy all the time. We have big jobs and smart people.

But we're also public servants. There is no secret plot to circumvent the president or whatever. People may not always agree personally with a decision but we get it done.

FWIW, the ISCs on my team (not in BHA) were not experts of any kind, though they pretended to be. They were part of teams that were almost entirely remote workers. And while they inserted themselves into things and performed inherently governmental work, which they should not, they were basically redundant. I am sad for them as humans, and I also know their positions were bloat. This may not have been the case on the humanitarian side, but in our Bureau - yes.