Current and former officials say the Trump administration has abandoned decades of American commitments to democracy by simultaneously putting federal employees who safeguard US elections on leave and dismantling foreign aid programs that support fragile democracies abroad in less than a month of taking office.

Funding for initiatives centered on democracy and human rights has been suspended by the State Department and USAID, the primary foreign aid organization. Several people with knowledge of the situation told CNN that the State Department has also fired roughly six contractors who worked on those problems.

Several employees who have worked to safeguard electoral systems from domestic security threats, including consultants who provide basic, impartial cybersecurity in red states, were placed on leave by the Department of Homeland Security this month.

Current and former US officials warned CNN that the effects of the foreign aid cuts on democracy throughout the world will last for years.

Shannon Green, a senior USAID administrator until January who worked on such issues, stated that the US government's reputation as a champion of democracy and human rights is severely damaged as a result of all of this and "may never be able to recover." "It's a huge betrayal of the faith [foreign allies] have placed in us and the promises we have made to them."

Current and former US officials warned CNN that the effects of the foreign aid cuts on democracy throughout the world will last for years.

Shannon Green, a senior USAID administrator until January who worked on such issues, stated that the US government's reputation as a champion of democracy and human rights is severely damaged as a result of all of this and "may never be able to recover." "It's a huge betrayal of the faith [foreign allies] have placed in us and the promises we have made to them."

A state of chaos
Employees of the US government who are still involved in overseas aid describe a chaotic environment where they lack trustworthy leadership guidance on how to quickly refocus a multibillion-dollar set of initiatives. In court filings on Tuesday, USAID staff who were attempting to evacuate their families from the Democratic Republic of the Congo due to deadly rioting stated that they were unsure if they would be compensated for emergency costs.

Regarding the $44 billion that USAID distributed in fiscal 2023, one US official stated, "You can't move $44 billion worth of taxpayers' dollars around without issuing guidance." "This is not a new business."

Even when programs are resumed, pauses can still cause disruptions. For instance, the State Department has long offered VPN software and other digital security tools in an effort to shield dissidents in oppressive nations. According to a US official, "any kind of disruption in that space can be catastrophic."

Questions about the extent of the halt in foreign aid aimed at promoting democracy were not addressed by a State Department official.

In an email, the spokeswoman stated, "Every [foreign aid] program is going through a review with the aim of restructuring assistance to serve U.S. interests." "Programs that benefit our country will not stop. Programs that don't serve our national interest, however, won't.

In order to make sure that resources are allocated to the areas that need them the most, USAID workers "are continuing to work with international partners to track evolving humanitarian crises and emergency needs," the statement added.

However, the freeze might leave individuals in conflict zones or other nations that depend on the US government for physical safety in a state of uncertainty, according to Green, who previously worked at USAID for more than ten years under both Republican and Democratic administrations.

"Up until now, the State Department and USAID have been providing emergency support and assistance to human beings, human rights defenders, and activists," Green stated. She noted that initiatives supported by the US government to relocate human rights advocates to safe houses or evacuate them are in danger.

The USAID reduction have been welcomed by certain dictatorial nations, including as Russia. Additionally, Elon Musk has called for the closure of US-funded media organizations that have been a thorn in the side of dictatorial regimes, such as Voice of America and Radio Free Europe. These organizations may be the next to go.

Reductions in election protections
The disruption of international aid initiatives centered on democracy coincides with the second Trump administration's decision to place numerous DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency personnel on administrative leave for safeguarding US elections against both internal and foreign threats. Since Trump's return to office, CISA has also pulled down some of its websites that dealt with dispelling election conspiracy theories.

Chris Krebs, the director of CISA at the time, was fired by Trump in 2020 for declaring that the election was secure.

In a statement, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, "CISA needs to refocus on its mission, and we are starting with election security, as [DHS] Secretary Noem stated during her confirmation hearing."

"With an emphasis on any work pertaining to mis-, dis-, and malinformation, the agency is conducting an assessment of how it has carried out its election security mission," McLaughlin stated. "Persons who worked on disinformation, foreign influence operations, and misinformation, as well as disinformation, have been placed on administrative leave while the agency conducts the assessment."

However, CISA's efforts to combat election-related misinformation started under the first Trump administration and were scaled back during the Biden administration, in part due to Republican opposition and legal challenges. According to CNN earlier, some election authorities believe that CISA has overcorrected to the point that it is ill-equipped to handle viral lies propagated by Americans that might result in attacks on electoral infrastructure.

David Levine, a senior scholar at the University of Maryland's Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement, contended that the second Trump team's decision to place CISA's election specialists on leave may open up opportunities for foreign agents interested in attacking US elections.

Levine, a former election official in Idaho, said, "Foreign adversaries and other bad actors are licking their chops as they watch the current administration remove individuals who have been key to protecting American elections and encouraging the spread of democracy around the world." "Removing USAID's and CISA's election teams runs the risk of accelerating the erosion of the once-strong respect for American democracy, along with America's moral authority and leadership."