Trumping the bureaucracy

Civil Service-protected protesters learn their agency isn't independent

Workers at the U.S. African Development Foundation, a self-described independent agency, refused to let into its building the agency’s new acting director on Wednesday.

So much for the peaceful transition of power.

The agency has 55 employees and an annual budget of $45 million. USADF has been around longer than Fauci and it is just as useless and full of itself.

The coup d’etat—well, agency—by its staff earned it the title of the Little Agency That Could from the Guardian, a British newspaper that lies about Trump rather than risk jail by telling the truth about Keir Starmer. He is the British prime minister who is hoping to be the first ayatollah when the UK officially becomes the Islamic Republic of Albion.

The Jeff Bezos Post reported that that the staff was working, “Then, a security officer at the front desk called.

“There were two men in the building who claimed they were USADF staff and needed access to the building, but they did not have key cards. The officer asked the employees whether he should let the visitors upstairs, describing them as ‘very young men’ with backpacks, the official said.

“USADF staff said no, saying the security guard’s description sounded like the same DOGE workers who had shown up at their building before for an initial introduction. By this time, the official said, the USADF employees were aware DOGE officials were seeking to dismantle their agency, and it felt like their last chance to stop DOGE from gaining access to the system. Another USADF official with firsthand knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the nature of the meeting, confirmed the visit was intended to fire employees.”

Who the hell are the staffers of USADF to defy a presidential order?

That was on Wednesday. Thursday was far different.

NYT reported, “Federal marshals on Thursday escorted officials from the Department of Government Efficiency into the U.S. African Development Foundation, a day after its employees refused entry to the Trump administration’s budget-slashing unit and Pete Marocco, the State Department official in charge of foreign aid.

“Once inside, security officials were directed to change the federal agency’s locks, according to a security official at the scene. Mr. Marocco was seen entering the building separately from DOGE officials, according to video posted online, and the security official said he was briefly in the building.”

Changing the locks was a good idea. I’m sure DOGE can make the computers sing as well.

NYT whitewashed the unprofessional and unconstitutional refusal of USADF staff to obey orders, saying, “The leaders refused to succumb to the efforts of Mr. Marocco and the Department of Government of Efficiency team, overseen by Elon Musk, to assume control of their functions, dismiss staff members and install Mr. Marocco as the acting leader.”

The deep state isn’t going down without a pissing match.

The Times said, “Barely an hour after the officials arrived on Thursday with federal marshals, the foundation’s president, Ward Brehm, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to prevent Mr. Marocco from ousting him and usurping control.”

Brehm’s lawsuit is frivolous. On June 29, 2020, that despite an elaborate plan by a Democrat Congress to give its party control of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in perpetuity, the bureau is not independent and its director serves at the will and pleasure of the president.

The USADF is too tiny for Karoline Leavitt to bother with. That gave Anna Kelly, an underling, a chance to show her chops. She said, “Entitled, rogue bureaucrats have no authority to defy executive orders by the president of the United States or physically bar his representatives from entering the agencies they run.”

Technically, the agency helps spur the economy in Africa with little grants but the reality is it is a soft landing spot for politicians and a nice board for donors of both parties to sit on. Former Senator Carol Moseley Braun is the chairman of the board, appointed by FJB and confirmed by the Senate last April.

Ted Kennedy and George McGovern pushed for creation of the agency, which Congress approved in 1979.

It took 5 years for the agency to begin doling out grants to Africa.

Africa’s GDP is $2.8 trillion a year. That 62,222 times as large as the USADF budget.

But while the money has a small impact on the economy, I am sure the bribes, kickbacks and schemes it funds have a political impact. Otherwise, Democrats would not be so fierce in defending USADF.

Late last night, a DC judge enjoined Trump from being president by blocking the takeover of USADF.

We keep hearing that foreign aid is only 1% of the budget. But the $25 billion wall that Trump wanted was less than that and the swamp said it did not have money to pay for the wall.

Odd that empowering Nigerian farmers and like grants have a greater priority than keeping Venezuelan gangs out of America.