DOGE fired me from USAID. I'll be fine, but America is in trouble. | Opinion

In September 2020, I was swearing an oath to uphold the Constitution in my dining room, eyes on my laptop. I had just started a new position with the U.S. Agency for International Development, my first with the federal government, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since leaving my home state of Indiana in 2003, my professional life had orbited USAID: My first real job was for a USAID contractor, and then I worked with a series of organizations that received USAID funding ‒ in India, Haiti, Niger and the United States.

Despite this, I had never seriously considered joining the agency, preferring to work on the programs that USAID funded and perhaps restrained by a faint bias: Weren’t government employees disengaged and uninspired, working for a paycheck and little else?

My colleagues in USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance quickly put the lie to such prejudices. They were passionate, tireless professionals strenuously committed to the bureau’s mission of saving lives and reducing the suffering of the world’s most vulnerable people.

I saw them hop on planes with less than 24 hours’ notice to respond to disasters in Turkey, Pakistan and Haiti; spoke to them after they spent nights in the basement of a Kyiv hotel while Russian drones attacked outside; and silently cheered as they prepared our top diplomats to try to stop a famine in Sudan.

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In short, they were an inspiration. And, believe it or not, they’re no exception. Across the government, federal employees are driven by a belief in the importance of public service, toil long hours to advance their missions and bring specialized skills and knowledge that can’t easily be replaced.

Opinion: I'm a veteran and I worked with USAID. It is essential to our national security.

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But these workers – my colleagues at USAID and more than 2 million other federal employees around the country – are under attack.

Elon Musk's dubiously deployed Department of Government Efficiency is remarkable for the speed, cruelty and, above all, the thoughtlessness of its unleashing.

Musk's DOGE spells big trouble for regular Americans

Under the guise of rooting out corruption, fraud and inefficiency, Musk and clan have laid waste to an increasing range of government functions and agencies – USAID for one, but also the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Education.

The General Services Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs might be next in the crosshairs.

This is not a rightsizing or reimagining of government based on reasoned analysis in pursuit of clear objectives. Rather, it is a slapdash yet deliberate effort to cripple the federal bureaucracy through truly unilateral cuts, thereby consolidating power in the executive branch.

But why should this matter to Hoosiers who live far from Washington, D.C., most of whom no doubt would love to see a leaner, more effective government?

First, this is only the beginning of Musk's and DOGE’s campaign. The U.S. government is the world’s largest purchaser of goods and services, and its grants to state and local governments and service providers invisibly underpin much of the world we take for granted.

Even cuts made with clear justification and foresight have unintended effects. DOGE’s frenetic slashing will have significant human and economic consequences in the state, some predictable and some not.

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Second, our professional, apolitical civil service – the competent, dedicated people I described above – is one of the best things this country has going for it. All civil servants, including the 48,000 who make Indiana home, deserve humane treatment and a fair shake, a fair assessment of our value and contributions to the welfare of this great nation.

A capriciously diminished federal workforce will inevitably result in a less safe, less prosperous and less strong America.

Musk and DOGE must be stopped before the worst comes to pass. It’s too late for me – I was terminated Feb. 24, with the non-explanation that it was “in the best interest of the U.S. government.” My wife lost her job with USAID, as well.

In the long run, our family of five will be fine – we have savings and strong support systems. I wish I could feel as hopeful about the future of our country and my home state. We must make our voices heard while there are things still left to save.

Peter Gaff is a former federal employee who lives in Washington, D.C. He grew up in LaPorte County, Indiana. This column originally appeared in the Indianapolis Star.