The Dictatorship
Russ Vought helped gut USAID — then reportedly used its money for his security
According to several expert estimations, the Trump administration’s gutting of the U.S. Agency for International Development has already caused hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide — and it’s projected to lead to millions more in the years ahead. It’s noteworthy that even conservative evangelical groups have opposed these cuts.
Nonetheless, as Elon Musk and members of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency conveniently hacked away at organizations investigating his companiesDonald Trump’s biggest campaign donor openly boasted about cutting off funding to USAID. At one point, he bragged about having spent a weekend “feeding USAID into the wood chipper” instead of partying.
But as it turns out, all of USAID’s funds didn’t make it into that “wood chipper.” According to a new report from Reuters, $15 million of USAID’s remaining money is being used this year for the security detail of Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget — and an architect of the Project 2025 far-right playbook who has said he wanted to put federal employees “in trauma.”
The White House budget office is using millions of dollars from the former U.S. foreign aid agency to pay for the security detail of Russell Vought, President Donald Trump’s budget chief and an architect of the government overhaul that has cut thousands of federal jobs, according to three documents seen by Reuters.
The White House Office of Management and Budget, which Vought leads, is allocating $15 million of what remains of USAID operating expenses to cover the costs of his protection by the U.S. Marshals Service through the end of 2026, the documents showed.
MS NOW hasn’t independently confirmed the documents. But when asked by Reuters, an OMB spokesperson certainly didn’t offer a denial:
Asked about the use of USAID funds, OMB spokesperson Rachel Cauley said in an email: ‘We are going to continue to use available funds at the three agencies overseen by the director to protect him.’
She apparently was referring to OMB, USAID and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, of which Vought is the acting director.
So if you’re doing the Trumpian accounting at home, potentially millions of people worldwide will die in the name of “efficiency” — and said efficiency also justifies repurposing some of that same money so a single government bureaucrat can pay for his security detail for the rest of the year.
On top of the obvious moral implications, it may rack the brain why an OMB director would even need such a massive amount of money for his security detail, let alone for a single year. That said, my colleague Steve Benen has done a great job covering the trend of Trump officials with rather large security details that have raised eyebrows.
I’m reminded of what Musk said back in October 2024, when he predicted financial “hardship” for Americans if Trump won a second term — and that he would need more security if allowed to gut federal programs.
“I’ll probably need a lot of security, but it’s got to be done,” Musk said.
I think many people are fairly clueless about what USAID does, or falsely see it as something the U.S. invests in for purely charitable reasons. Trump certainly seems to think so, as evidenced by his weak attempt at comedy during last year’s joint address to Congress, in which he invited conservatives to bask in his ignorance about what the African nation of Lesotho is or why the country might receive USAID funds.
In reality, USAID has been a strategic boon for the U.S. to exhibit what is often called “soft power,” which is basically influence nurtured through diplomacy and investment, rather than military force.
Indeed, some of these projects have saved a lot of lives. But their supposed benefits to the U.S. have always been paramount. A prime example involves a topic I wrote about a few years back: climate change-induced migration and the occasionally violent conflicts that arise from it. The Trump administration gutted USAID programs designed to help countries fight against climate change, which will leave these countries more susceptible to climate disasters and cause people to have to move elsewhere.
It’s easy to see why this is being perceived as a crisis among people concerned about things such as humanity. But one might think a MAGA movement that spends virtually all of its time demonizing immigration and immigrants would see the value in such programs as well.
But when it comes to USAID, some conservatives appear to be blinded by bigotry. And with their vision shrouded, the Trump administration apparently feels empowered to do as it pleases with the agency’s money.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.