It’s so important for people to realize that authoritarianism in America will look like this, not like a police state with martial law and people disappearing into prisons. It will be a dispirited opposition that people are afraid of supporting, bc otherwise they’ll get in trouble.

For some of the most comprehensive USAID reporting yet, @timothypmurphy.bsky.social & I spoke to ~12 USAID workers about how Musk & Trump have screwed over FSOs, interrupted life-saving projects, & shattered the foundations of the entire humanitarian aid industry. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

So what has the Trump/Musk push on USAID achieved so far? I reached out to contacts, and here's the state of play: Children dying. Hospitals closing. Ebola at risk of spreading. US food aid rotting. Moms at risk in childbirth. China gaining soft power. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/o...

Readers have asked what they can do at a personal level, and that's important because the assault on USAID may be a prelude to an attack on Medicaid here in the US. So I recommend some advocacy steps and great nonprofits to support: www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/o...

looking to chat with anyone at or adjacent to USAID about what's going on with DOGE there. you can message me on signal at timothypmurphy.41.

Yes, USAID could use reform, but this is demolition. Trump braids together cruelty, ignorance and shortsightedness, and calls it policy, as the world's richest men go after the worlds poorest children. My column: www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/o...

showed up to work ten minutes early to call my state assemblymember, state senator, US congressman, and US senators, you should do the same

Re. Rahm Emanuel’s “is this the hill you want to die on”: yes. Yes it is. The US government can stop tiny babies dying horrible deaths AND counter China for not very much money - yes, this is a hill worth dying on.

One of my party facts is that according to polls, Americans believe foreign aid is about 25% of the federal budget and on average that it *should* be about 10%. The actual number is less than 1%. Foreign aid has long been a boogey man of the right, so it's not surprising they're vilifying it now.

🚨BREAKING. From a program officer at the National Science Foundation, a list of keywords that can cause a grant to be pulled. I will be sharing screenshots of these keywords along with a decision tree. Please share widely. This is a crisis for academic freedom & science.

Scenes from a protest outside of USAID today.

Shutting down USAID is not about efficiency—it’s about undermining America’s global leadership. USAID counters extremism, fights diseases, and creates more markets for U.S. exports. This is reckless and dangerous.

USAID employees overseas are no longer able to access their government security app, which gives them this error code (images provided to me by USAID worker)

Just spitballing, but things that could happen today: *Court injunction protecting USAID *Dems demand hearings on Musk's role *Someone introduce articles of impeachment *Dem officeholders go to USAID offices with USAID workers *Refuse to conduct any more Senate confirmations until this is resolved

People have gathered outside USAID HQ for press event with Democratic Congressmen Beyer, Raskin, Connolly and Olzewski and Senator Van Hollen where they're addressing the building's mysterious shutdown today in the midst of the Trump admin dismantling the agency. (Photos shared with me)

Indivisible is urging people to visit their senators' local offices between now and Thursday to demand that they use every tool—including denying a quorum and blocking unanimous consent—to fight the confirmation of Project 2025 architect Russell Vought for head of OMB docs.google.com/document/d/1...

The attack on USAID is catastrophic for so many who depend on these services for life-saving healthcare and life-changing education. Call your representative immediately (usaidstopwork.com/individuals) and donate to NGOs supported by USAID:

Trump and @marcorubio 's actions to destroy the US foreign aid system is catastrophic, cruel and hurts Americans and those abroad. Foreign aid is a minuscule part of the federal budget. Each American pays about $120/year. The returns are enormous. Here's why: 1/

New @nberpubs.bsky.social working paper: "When Given Discretion Teachers Did Not Shirk: Evidence from Remedial Education in Secondary Schools" with #SabrinBeg @annefitz13.bsky.social @jkerwin.bsky.social @kwrahman.com Title summarizes it. We elaborate in the paper: www.nber.org/papers/w33242

My other fantastic student on the market is @tanyarajan. She is an exceptionally talented development and labor economist studying garment workers and informality in South Asia. www.tanyarajan.com See a description of her JMP below:

This paper with @profalucas.bsky.social and Sabrin Beg has been a labor of love and I am so happy to release it nber.org/papers/w31757 (I'll make this thread different for the dual #twittersky peeps)

With @overleaf.com down, here's a quick tip to keep working. If you're already syncing overleaf with Dropbox, you can still find your files in Dropbox/Apps/Overleaf Install the latex extension in vscode or download an editor like texstudio. Should take 15 mins or less to get set up! #econsky

I have two fantastic students on the market this year. Anyone looking to hire in development + labor should take a serious look at them. First up, Varun Kapoor sites.google.com/view/varunk/...