international development= bad career move right now

[PaulRR]

While the hiring freeze is bad, this will greatly diminish employment opportunities for international NGOs, USAID, aid agencies, and other organizations involved in US-funded development or humanitarian assistance. The article says State Department, but they really mean is USAID which is under the State Department and allocates funds for a wide range of organizations.

 

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/white-house-trumps-budget-will-cut-foreign-aid/article/2615900

"The foreign aid cuts will be part of a reduction in spending that reportedly could reduce the State Department's budget by as much as 30 percent."

[JerryK]

Of all Trump's policies, this one may have the least chance of strong resistance in Congress simply because the cuts will fund an expansion of the military and it is not a domestic issue. It is hard to imagine Graham and Rogers turning down an opportunity to expand the U.S. military while reducing foreign assistance. Do a news search for Hal Rogers and Black Hawk oil pan. These are politicians and of course they may say what a shame this is that foreign aid may be cut, but Rogers and Graham would likely love to divert funding from aid to military spending. That's like saying John McCain would be against expanding the military.

It is strange to see them referred to as "not pushovers" when they have not even commented on this and may support it.  Have they actually come out and said they oppose Trump on this or is this just based on previous comments over the years on foreign aid? The above post seems to indicate that they are going to oppose it and I haven't read anything about that- and have to wonder if down the line when the budget is being set how much they'll oppose a military expansion.

I agree, however, that this is a fluid situation and we should keep an eye on this debate. Thanks for the great comments, Nasty Woman.

[JerryK]

He actually says he doesn't support a budget "this lean" which keeps the door open for supporting some cuts. If you ever see a quote from him where he says he won't support any cuts to aid, please post it. That would be great news, although I'm guessing Trump will attack him for refusing to support an increase in military spending. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few months.

[DogsArePeopleToo]

This is a good, timely thread and I see some great posts - thank you guys.

"International development," though, is a field bigger than just USAID...at least for many non-Americans. It is true that American international aid budget, like the American military budget, is a colossus unmatched by any other country, so it takes up a lot of space and reducing it will suck a lot of air out of the field. But international development also happens through the UN, its agencies and many, many implementation partners (IPs) across the globe that work on a country or sub-national level.

But to say that the UN is not on Trump's chopping block would be an overstatement too, so I'd agree with @Nasty Woman that it is a potentially bad career move, and panic just now might be premature. A lot of development-themed UN agencies such as UNHCR receive a lot of money from the Europeans and the Japanese, and despite Trump's stated disposition toward American funding for the UN's core budget, the US might continue to give strongly to the frequent appeals by UNHCR, FAO, UNDP, WHO, etc. Then there's the World Bank that also does massive amounts of overseas development work.

This post risks verging on the incoherent, but the basic premise is that international development is greater than the budget Trump sets before Congress this year. A career is for the rest of your life, so go forth and multiply

[JerryK]

Nasty Woman, from your last sentence it's seems like you now believe there is the possibility of some cuts. I also do not think it will be 37% or whatever Trump will ask for. That's a tactic straight out of Trump's business background. Start with a large number and bargain down.

I still predict Republicans will go along with a reduction and hopefully I will be wrong. Mitch McConnell said the Senate would "probably" not go along with such dramatic cuts to the State and USAID budget. But will they support some form of budget cut? One that shifts funding to the military? We'll have to wait and see.

Dogs, good points on other opportunities at the UN and elsewhere.

[JerryK]

Trump's budget proposal will come out on Thursday according to the Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/through-his-budget-a-bottom-line-look-at-trumps-new-washington/2017/03/12/29739206-05be-11e7-b9fa-ed727b644a0b_story.html?utm_term=.ef5347e1e650

As mentioned earlier, this will be a long process and some members of Congress will push back on the the cuts. But I still expect some reduction in the federal workforce and especially the budget for foreign development assistance will take place. Will it be to the level that Trump is requesting? No, but it is still something those interested in international development or government service should monitor.

Source: I have not been working in U.S. foreign aid appropriations within and outside of Congress but can see the writing on the wall.