The Resistance Media continue to seethe over the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) march through the federal government, particularly through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID coverage trod old and familiar tropes, seeking to elicit sympathy for the dying agency.
NBC’s report was the most comprehensive, and was the top story on NBC Nightly News. However, it seemed reductive in comparison to prior reporting.
There was the mention of concerns over executive overreach- something that NEVER came up during the wildest executive excesses of the Biden Administration. There was the emphasis on the lifesaving humanitarian aspects of USAID relief, as well as on USAID’s budget.
And on NBC, there was another federal employee insight, a complement to ABC’s platforming of the woman that made sure to yank pride flags and remove “provocative” books before DOGE entered the premises:
Last night, it was a USAID employee blabbing to ABC about yanking pride flags- tonight it's NBC featuring a federal employee crying about having to explain himself to DOGE employees, explaining to loud gasps that the DOGE supervisor lives onsite with his family: pic.twitter.com/ENaPkSxM3v
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) February 5, 2025
PETER ALEXANDER: A senior administration official tonight telling NBC News more than 20,000 federal employees have accepted the offer so far. But many federal workers are furious at the pace and the scope of the president's changes.
FEDERAL WORKER: I am angry. I am seething.
ALEXANDER: Speaking at a town hall in Virginia overnight.
FEDERAL WORKER: My colleagues are getting 15-minute one-on-one check-ins with 19, 20, 21-year-old college graduates asking to justify their positions. (VIDEO SWIPE) One of Musk’s top lieutenants and his wife and young child have shacked up on the sixth floor of our agency and are living there.
(GASPS)
WHAT???
Over at ABC, the story was folded within its D.C. roundup, but still hit all the requisite spots:
RACHEL SCOTT: Musk then seizing control of USAID, which provides humanitarian assistance around the world, helping an estimated 32 million children suffering malnutrition and bringing food, water, shelter and health care to victims of natural disasters. USAID's $43 billion budget is a tiny fraction of what the government spends, about 1%. But Musk, who is the world's richest man, posting, "We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper."
The pro-USAID talking points remain in place: small part of the budget, USAID only pays for nice stuff like food and medicine. You’ll hear nothing about transgender operas, LGBT comic books, color revolutions overseas or gain of function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The Resistance Media remain salty.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned reports as aired on their respective newscasts on Tuesday, February 4th, 2025:
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
2/4/25
6:31 PM
LESTER HOLT: Good evening and welcome. An executive order to abolish the U.S. Department of Education may be forthcoming, according to two sources familiar with the plans, as billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk continues to test the limits of his authority and influence in the Trump White House. Having already gained access to government computers, targeted America's foreign aid program for elimination, and offered incentives for government workers to quit, Musk's apparent freedom to slash what he identifies as wasteful spending is fueling backlash tonight. Musk estimating a few billion dollars a day of savings so far. But Democrats in Congress becoming increasingly vocal as Musk directly challenges Congress' traditional authority, including on matters such as eliminating the Department of Education. Republican lawmakers applauding the rapid makeover of the federal government that’s also angering many federal employees. Peter Alexander has the latest.
PETER ALEXANDER: Tonight, two weeks after returning to office pledging to take a wrecking ball to Washington, President Trump is pushing back against new attacks on his efforts and those of billionaire Elon Musk to reshape the federal government.
DONALD TRUMP: He's done a great job. Look at all the fraud that he's found.
ALEXANDER: But tonight, top Democrats are sounding the alarm that Musk and his lieutenants are going too far.
CHUCK SCHUMER: The American people will not stand for an unelected secret group to run rampant through the Executive Branch. Being innovative is good. But Mr. Musk, this isn't a tech start up. These are public institutions.
ALEXANDER: Musk, who vowed to slash $2 trillion from the budget, runs the Department of Government Efficiency that is not a government agency. But his team has already gained access to closely held data systems.
ELON MUSK: There's already been really tremendous progress. We- our rough estimate is that there's at least a few billion dollars a day of savings.
ALEXANDER: Sharply reducing the federal work force by offering a buyout to federal workers. A senior administration official tonight telling NBC News more than 20,000 federal employees have accepted the offer so far. But many federal workers are furious at the pace and the scope of the president's changes.
FEDERAL WORKER: I am angry. I am seething.
ALEXANDER: Speaking at a town hall in Virginia overnight.
FEDERAL WORKER: My colleagues are getting 15-minute one-on-one check-ins with 19, 20, 21-year-old college graduates asking to justify their positions. (VIDEO SWIPE) One of Musk’s top lieutenants and his wife and young child have shacked up on the sixth floor of our agency and are living there.
(GASPS)
WHAT???
ALEXANDER: Today President Trump praising Musk, including his move to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which distributes and delivers foreign aid, arguing much of its $40 billion dollar budget is wasteful.
TRUMP: Money going to all sorts of groups that shouldn't deserve to get any money.
ALEXANDER: But the agency's supporters say it's a vital mission. Still, leading Republicans strongly back Musk's moves.
MIKE JOHNSON: I told him to continue the effort because it's really important for us to get- to restore fiscal sanity to Washington.
ALEXANDER: Late today, the president responding to a new offer from El Salvador o take back deported undocumented migrants and American prisoners too.
TRUMP: If we had the legal right to do it, I would do it in a heartbeat. (VIDEO SWIPE) But we could make deals where we'd get these animals out of our country.
HOLT: And Peter, at the beginning of the broadcast I mentioned another sweeping change of what- the abolishment of the Department of Education. Where does that stand?
ALEXANDER: Lester, the president says he told his Secretary of Education nominee that he would like her to put herself out of a job, saying that states should handle all of it. But getting rid of an agency would require Congress' approval. Meanwhile, non- profit groups tell NBC News tonight that the president's actions on USAID have left life-saving antibiotics sitting in limbo at the port of Sudan, and essential medicines expiring in The Congo. Lester.
HOLT: All right, Peter Alexander tonight. Thank you.
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT
2/4/24
6:37 PM
DAVID MUIR: This evening, two of President Trump's most controversial nominees clearing a major hurdle now on their path to confirmation. Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard both advancing out of committee today. Tonight, RFK Jr. overcoming the reservations of a key Republican senator who is also a doctor. That senator now supporting RFK Jr. The senator up for re-election. Here's our Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott.
RACHEL SCOTT: Tonight, two of the president's most controversial nominees clearing key hurdles, on track for confirmation as skeptical Republican senators fall in line. Health Secretary Nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. winning approval of the Finance Committee after the lone Republican holdout, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who is also a doctor, voted yes.
SENATE CLERK: Mr. Cassidy.
BILL CASSIDY: Aye.
SENATE CLERK: Mr. Cassidy, aye.
SCOTT: Cassidy had grilled Kennedy over his years of spreading misinformation about vaccines. The senator acknowledged he was struggling with the nomination. But ultimately Cassidy, who is facing re-election next year, fully aware of the pressure he could face for voting no. Now giving Kennedy his full support.
CASSIDY: Ultimately restoring trust in our public health institution is too important, and I think Mr. Kennedy can help get that done.
SCOTT: A few hours later, former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick for Director of National Intelligence, passing a party line vote in the Senate Intelligence Committee, despite Republican concerns over her meeting with former Syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad, and her refusal to call Edward Snowden a traitor. Gabbard and Kennedy, two disruptors in a team of them. The leading figure, billionaire Elon Musk, who is out to reshape the government itself. His Department of Government Efficiency, staffed largely by young engineers. At least one of them just 19, have brought beds into their government offices. Musk posting on X, "Working the weekend is a superpower." His team getting access to the Treasury Department's payment system, which processes trillions of dollars of the government's bills and includes the personal information of millions of Americans. Musk then seizing control of USAID, which provides humanitarian assistance around the world, helping an estimated 32 million children suffering malnutrition and bringing food, water, shelter and health care to victims of natural disasters. USAID's $43 billion budget is a tiny fraction of what the government spends, about 1%. But Musk, who is the world's richest man, posting, "We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper." And tonight, sources tell ABC News that the State Department is now starting to evacuate all USAID staff who are on foreign assignments worldwide. Some 1,500 to 2,000 people. The goal is to bring all those workers and their families back to the United States by this weekend. On Capitol Hill, Republicans applauding Musk's goals.
THOM TILLIS: He's throwing out big ideas, and if anybody thinks that all these big ideas are going to be implemented to conclusion, they don't understand the process of disruption.
SCOTT: But Democrats sounding the alarm.
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: It is unconscionable for him to be exercising this kind of influence and power that he is with his conflicts of interest and his financial benefits flowing to him from the kind of destructive impact, it's not disruptive, it's destructive.
SCOTT: And the next target for Elon Musk, the Department of Education. Musk already looking for sweeping changes and cuts. Sources tell us that members of his team were spotted at the department this week, and tonight, president Donald Trump making it clear he wants to abolish the Department of Education altogether, David.
MUIR: Rachel Scott live on The Hill tonight. Rachel, thank you.
