THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2025 51 When Leadership Fails We moved out of our house today. In the past, moving meant a new adventure, a new start, a new chapter— a mixture of sadness, happiness, and hope. Today, our adventure is replaced by fear, our start is an ending, and our new chapter is a book closing. There is little happiness, hope seems far off, and we are dealing daily with our sadness—leaning on each other, our family, and our friends. In less than three months, our lives unraveled in front of us. We all thought surely someone in leadership would step up and stop this senseless destruction. Some did, but most did not, choosing instead to sit and watch. Many told themselves it would be all right, eventually some would be saved, there would be something left, we would continue. They were wrong, and I was wrong. What happened to USAID is what happens when leaders do nothing. Congress showed up for the first two weeks. They gathered their pictures and quotes, and then they gave up. Unwilling to really fight, they ceded not only their authority to oversee U.S. taxpayer money but also their critical role as a constitutional check on the executive branch. Their political calculation was that no one cares about USAID, and while that may not cost them votes, it has already cost America more than any unproven claims of fraud ever could. Like many, I was happy to see Secretary of State Marco Rubio take the helm at State. So I was devastated later as he sat by and watched one of his most valuable tools be callously “fed to the woodchipper.” He knows better— he’s said so himself: · “Foreign aid is a very cost-effective way, not only to export our values and our example, but to advance our security and our economic interests.” (2012) · “We don’t have to give foreign aid. We do so because it furthers our national interest.” (2013) · “It is critical that USAID continue to play an active role in providing technical assistance, education and training to support countries’ efforts to strengthen electoral systems. USAID’s democracy and governance programs are vital.” (2018) · “Anybody who tells you that we can slash foreign aid and that will bring us to balance is lying to you.” (2019) According to PolitiFact, Rubio co-sponsored multiple bills for USAID, including a 2017 bill authorizing USAID to combat substance abuse in the Philippines, a 2021 bill expanding access to education, a 2021 bill to advance global women’s rights, and a 2022 bill to protect victims of international human trafficking. Rubio’s shift—from repeatedly praising USAID’s value to the U.S. and the world between 2012 and 2023, to declaring it a danger to U.S. foreign policy in 2025 and abolishing most of its staff and programs— rates as a Full Flop, according to PolitiFact’s rating system. These early days have shown that Rubio is no Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, John Kerry, Hillary Rodham Clinton, or even Rex Tillerson—all of whom knew when to say no to their president. We are left wondering if it’s political miscalculation or cowardice. As the dismantling of the U.S. foreign policy apparatus continues with the closing of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, Inter-American Foundation, African Development Fund, and the U.S. Institute for Peace; expected 20-30 percent cuts to the Foreign Commercial Service; and now deep cuts to State Department—will he stay seated, step up, or step down? As I write, Rubio is firmly planted in his chair. To date, though, his acquiescence to our nation’s full-scale rollback from the global stage and alignment with Russia is a reversal of everything for which he once stood. As for Congress, Senator Cory Booker talking for over 24 hours and Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez touring the U.S. may be inspiring, but it doesn’t stop our declining international status, the emboldening of China and Russia, growing anti-Americanism, or the loss of our jobs and uprooting of our lives. What the U.S. has lost with the demise of USAID will take decades to recover. Our reputation as a reliable partner and respect for our expertise have vanished. So, what’s next for me? My sadness will lessen over time, new adventures will be had, and new chapters will be written. Everything will be different, but we will move forward. Take care, stay safe, and always remain unreasonable. n What the U.S. has lost with the demise of USAID will take decades to recover. Our reputation as a reliable partner and respect for our expertise have vanished. USAID VP VOICE | BY RANDY CHESTER AFSA NEWS Contact: chester@afsa.org | (202) 712-5267
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