A former speechwriter for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) appeared on CBS’s “60 Minutes” Sunday to bemoan federal workers facing financial challenges after losing their government positions.
Kristina Drye, who served under USAID Administrator Samantha Power during the Biden administration, expressed dismay by the economic realities awaiting former agency employees outside of the federal payroll. Her appearance comes after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effectively dismantled USAID in early February after a review of agency programs revealed billions in spending on left-wing, especially pro-LGBT, social initiatives abroad.
“People are really scared,” Drye said. “Twelve days ago, people know where their next paycheck was coming from. They knew how they were going to pay for their kids’ daycare, their medical bills. And then, all gone overnight.”
Drye started her position as a USAID “speechwriter and communications analyst” in October 2022, according to her LinkedIn profile. She separately appeared in a CBS News interview outside of the agency’s headquarters on Feb. 3, where she lamented the loss of employees who had “given their lives” to “this work.”
“Absolutely heartbreaking. People who have given decades of their work — this kind of, this work. I mean they’ve given their lives,” she said. “DOGE was in the building. We took down our pride flags. I took out any books I felt would be incriminating. No one was talking.”
President Donald Trump plans to fire all but 294 USAID employees, reducing the agency’s worldwide force by over 9,000, according to Reuters. The dramatic downsizing follows DOGE’s reviews that identified multiple initiatives funding sex-change operations and tech censorship programs abroad during former President Joe Biden’s term — programs that Secretary of State Marco Rubio characterized as diplomatic liabilities. Former USAID Administrator Power previously stated her desire to “work LGBT rights into the DNA of our foreign policy.”
“And they had to leave the building,” Drye continued on “60 Minutes” Sunday. “And these are folks who had decades and decades of public service serving USAID across multiple administrations … And they were never able to walk back in the building again.”
During Drye’s Biden-era tenure, U.S. workers faced record-high inflation, high interest rates, soaring housing costs and plateauing job growth for native-born Americans, while foreign-born job numbers soared to record figures.
Drye did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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