Elon Musk Says DOGE ‘Wasn’t Worth It’ — Critics Say USAID Shutdown Cost Hundreds Of Thousands Of Lives

In February, Elon Musk announced that his temporary unit, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), had "spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper" after President Donald Trump granted him special authority as a "special government employee." Over the course of days, DOGE effectively dismantled the 64-year-old U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), halting deliveries of medicines, emergency food and other vital humanitarian assistance to vulnerable communities around the world.

Claims, Cuts and Consequences

Musk promised DOGE would cut government spending by "at least $2 trillion," but the fiscal impact was a microscopic fraction of that figure. After DOGE was disbanded, Musk conceded, "We were a little bit successful," adding that he would not repeat the experiment.

Estimating the full human cost of shuttering USAID is difficult, but emerging analyses point to severe consequences. Models from Boston University epidemiologist Brooke Nichols suggest the elimination and disruption of aid operations contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. The U.S. accounted for roughly 40% of the foreign aid tracked by the United Nations in 2024, and much of the delivery infrastructure that channeled that assistance was damaged or disabled.

How Aid Networks Collapsed

Beyond paused payments, partner organizations closed or reduced operations, supply chains for medicines and food were severed, and staff who implemented and monitored programs were dismissed. Early-warning systems for famine and infectious disease surveillance were also interrupted. Reports include cases such as a child in South Sudan with HIV who died of pneumonia after losing access to life-sustaining medication, clinical trial participants left without follow-up care, and surges in acute malnutrition at refugee camps.

Politics, Misinformation And Inexperience

Right-wing influencers and political allies amplified claims that USAID was corrupt or a covert influence operation. Mike Benz, who had labeled the agency a "Terror Titanic," was influential in shaping the narrative and was later appointed as a special government employee to investigate those very allegations. One widely circulated falsehood claimed $50 million was sent to "buy condoms in Gaza"; in reality, the funds were allocated for family-planning programs in a Mozambican province also named Gaza.

DOGE empowered political appointees and inexperienced tech figures to oversee and investigate career foreign-aid staff. Young operatives without prior government or humanitarian experience were reported to be involved in personnel investigations and administrative purges. When Acting USAID Director Jason Gray warned that an order to cut communications with field staff could endanger lives, he resisted and was subsequently fired.

Lessons And Legacy

"USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die." — Elon Musk (reported)

The episode underscores the risks of entrusting complex humanitarian systems to ad hoc teams lacking institutional knowledge. Critics say DOGE achieved negligible budgetary savings while creating a global humanitarian calamity, weakening a central pillar of U.S. soft power and making vulnerable populations sicker and poorer.

While some aspects of the incident remain contested and precise casualty counts are difficult to verify, the widely reported disruptions to aid delivery, monitoring systems and supply chains have clear and immediate human consequences. DOGE will be remembered as a cautionary tale about the damage that can follow when political theater and inexperienced management replace experienced governance in life-and-death domains.