Talk:United States Agency for International Development

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Wikipedia Ambassador Program course assignment

This article is the subject of an educational assignment at Syracuse University supported by WikiProject United States Public Policy and the Wikipedia Ambassador Program during the 2011 Spring term. Further details are available on the course page.

The above message was substituted from {{WAP assignment}} by PrimeBOT (talk) on 15:39, 2 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Wiki Education assignment: Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2024

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 8 January 2024 and 20 April 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): MandevillaSherlockii (article contribs).

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Musk/DOGE

Nothing about this, yet? Maybe add to section "Second Trump administration".

Knickmeyer, Ellen (February 2, 2025), "USAID security leaders on leave after trying to keep Musk's DOGE from classified info, officials say", AP News

▶ I am Grorp ◀ 23:00, 2 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Musk now saying he fed USAID "into the wood chipper."

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1886307316804263979 QINGCHARLES (talk) 11:17, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Links in the article to usaid.gov are now non-functional because of ongoing political turmoil 68.47.12.189 (talk) 12:20, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

[1] works for me. Doug Weller talk 13:04, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This is in need of a serious rewrite.

So, the callout info box lists November 3, 1961 as the date the agency was formed but in the article there is mention of events from 1915, World War II and other events well before the agency was even created. This makes it seem as if the agency was active before ’61 but it wasn’t and it should be made clear that the relief efforts mentioned were executed before the agency was even created. I don’t know if that means adding some kind of timeline to the article but as an IP ‘editor’ I no longer have an interest in working on anything on the project having seen the behavior of editors with active agendas working to shape articles. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.246.137.82 (talk) 14:55, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

"As of Feb. 3 it was still available"

What does "still available" mean? 2601:642:4F84:1590:FDD3:A31B:19A8:2C30 (talk) 15:07, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Working. Doug Weller talk 15:13, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

But is it really? Several news organizations have noted the opposite. Norbillian (talk) 16:35, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Norbillian Have you tried the link? That's the only way to know. Although ., hm, it is a Google thing! Doug Weller talk 17:10, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

That hardly makes sense. USAID is an organization, not a refrigerator. 2A00:79E1:2E00:9601:A445:6108:8AFA:E42D (talk) 18:20, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

the article is moving fast. “It” and “working” referred to the website with the url USAid.gov

The material isn’t in the article anymore. This thread is obsolete. Mikewem (talk) 19:51, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 3 February 2025

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At the end of the summary is the sentence: "As of February 3, 2025 it was working." Which, to me, seems totally superfluous. What was working? Working in what way? It should be cut IMO. GSV Kakistocrat (talk) 16:26, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Has been removed Mikewem (talk) 18:00, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 3 February 2025 (2)

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Change "With a budget of over $50 billion" to "With an annual budget of about $40 billion" to reflect actual budget information. Please add a citation; you could use ForeignAssistance.gov as the source. Hancock48 (talk) 20:51, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Partly done: The reference previously only appeared in info box. I deleted that and moved it to the lead per MOS:INFOBOXREF. 50 appears to be the correct number per RS. The nuance of language is that 50 is the allocated budget, and 40ish is the amount actually spent. Mikewem (talk) 22:41, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Can the president shut down USAID permanently? And why does Elon Musk have a say?

Here's a sentence currently in the lede: "On February 3, 2025, Elon Musk announced in an X Spaces conversation that he and Trump were in the process of shutting down USAID permanently."

This article should clearly state (1) whether or not Donald Trump has that authority and (2) what exactly Elon Musk's role is.

There's only one other reference to Musk in this article; it's noted at that point that Musk has said USAID is a "criminal organization." That is of course bonkers, but it's not challenged in this article. Shouldn't it be? NME Frigate (talk) 21:24, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I removed the word "permanently" from that sentence in the lede because 1) The citations don't quote him as using that word and 2) To me, his phrasing begs the question: "What does 'shutting down' USAID actually mean? Reining it in, reforming it, actually getting rid of it?") Until it's completely clear as to what Trump's policy is, whether Congress will oppose his agenda (if his agenda is one that requires congressional approval), or if it faces judicial challenges, I don't think it's necessary to put in legal opinions on what can or can't be done.

Musk calling USAID a "criminal organization" should of course only be listed as his opinion if it's really going to be on here at all, but the criticisms and controversies section has a section on "Financial conflicts of interest" that shows that he isn't nearly the only one to ever accuse it of being unduly influenced. Cookieo131 (talk) 22:32, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. Of possible interest (perhaps depending on what happens) is this article by Tess Bridgeman at Just Security:

Can the President Dissolve USAID by Executive Order? (Feb. 1)

Bridgeman quotes from The Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, which does not seem to be explicitly mentioned in this Wikipedia article, to argue, among other things, that (1) USAID, although established by an executive order in 1961 pursuant to a law passed that year, was codified into law by Congress in 1998; and (2) at this time, a President does not have the legal authority to close USAID entirely:

"Also in the 1998 Act, Congress gave the president a near-term, time-limited opportunity to reorganize these departments (22 USC 6601). Specifically, the Act provides, among other things, that within '60 days after October 21, 1998,' the president may, in a “reorganization plan and report” to be provided to Congress" (emphasis Bridgeman's).

Accordingly, I'd like to suggest a small change to this sentence in the History > Evolving organization linkages section: "Although the law authorized the president to abolish USAID, President Clinton did not exercise this option."

My suggestion is to change that to: "Although the law authorized the president to abolish USAID at that time, President Clinton did not exercise this option before an October 1998 deadline."

The sentence as currently given in this article might be read to imply that a later president could avail himself of an option not exercised by Clinton. NME Frigate (talk) 23:05, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request

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In the intro, for the last paragraph, where it mentions Elon Musk, please add "Department of Government Efficiency head". 2600:100C:A20C:1A22:199D:F42F:A60C:A9F (talk) 01:58, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Done! fgnievinski (talk) 03:01, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Lead relative emphasis

The lead ideally should summarize each major section of the article:

Purposes
Modes of assistance
Organization
Field missions
Assistance projects
History
Budget
Activities by region
Controversies and criticism

Currently it fails MOS:LEADREL. fgnievinski (talk) 02:53, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]