Donald Trump is once again acting like a king, not a president, effectively dismantling a government agency that Congress has authorized and funded for decades, i.e. USAID. Some believe Trump and Elon Musk may be targeting USAID for what they perceive as out-of-control woke transgressions at the agency, as this Globe article notes. That’s probably true, at least partly so. … But let’s not kid ourselves: USAID is a very flawed agency. How do I know this? PBS says so. Yes, PBS. The PBS NewsHour recently aired a piece, just prior to Trump taking office, that focused on how less than 10 percent of US foreign aid actually gets to its intended recipients. Where does the rest of the money go? To pay for “activities, not results,” as one non-conservative critic told PBS. The thing is, most USAID grants are funneled through private contractors, known as “implementing partners,” and, well, we all know what that means. It’s pretty outrageous. Watch the PBS video for just a few minutes. It comes out of the gate fast and convincingly. …

Bottom line: USAID shouldn’t be eliminated – and most certainly not through unconstitutional fiats issued by our royal-highness wannabe. But USAID is clearly in desperate need of reform – massive reform – if the PBS findings are even half true.