Reliability of the Federal Government

“The ultimate importance to the United States of our security and development assistance programs cannot be exaggerated. The programs and activities provided for in these bills will enable the United States to continue its contribution to the achievement of a secure and stable international environment.” – Ronald Reagan

I invite civil, bipartisan discussion to this post.

The above quote is from 1981 upon signing the International Security and Development Cooperation Act. The full speech discusses the vital importance of foreign aid and how the importance is often obscured by the long-term nature of the results. Similar statements on the importance of foreign aid have been made by President George W. Bush, Colin Powell, Barack Obama, Marco Rubio, and many others. According to the American Diplomacy Journal, credibility is one of the top principles of operational diplomacy.

Every new administration has its own goals and looks to implement policy changes in government, and that is completely natural. Any newly elected government is going to modify policy as it sees fit. However, those policy changes typically fit within the underlying framework that has been put forth by Congress and previous administrations. Today I would like to talk about the importance of reliability and continuity of the Federal Government in the United States in both foreign and domestic policy.

Last week, Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs across almost the entire world. Markets immediately reacted worldwide on Thursday and Friday, while futures indicate the turmoil will continue this week. JP Morgan now expects a recession in 2025 while other recession forecasts are increasing. This major change to U.S. foreign policy had immediate consequences. Moreover, after the president threatened tariffs before now several times, only to largely reverse course several times, there is no reason for foreign trade partners to believe the word of this administration going forward. These tariffs not only hurt the economy and international relations immediately, they greatly reduce the reliability of America as a trade partner going forward.

As noted in the quote above by Ronald Reagan, international aid is incredibly important to the diplomatic efforts of America. One of the most widely respected programs from the G.W. Bush administration was the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR. This program is one of many international aid programs put in place by the United States and was estimated to save 26 million lives in 50 countries, and helped American diplomatic efforts greatly in Africa. Suddenly shuttering this type of support from USAID, against congressional appropriations, will reduce the reliability of America as a reliable partner, making it more difficult to trust the United States in the future.

In 2015, during the Obama administration, a deal was reached with Iran to limit their nuclear weapons advancements, an effort that spanned 12 years and started during the G.W. Bush administration. During his first administration Donald Trump singlehandedly decided to pull the United States out of this deal, despite seemingly no evidence to support his claims that Iran was not honoring their commitments. President Biden attempted to resurrect the deal, but Iran was hesitant to enter into another agreement, and they remain hesitant as Donald Trump now also is looking for a new deal with Iran on nuclear capabilities, now threatening to strike Iran if they refuse a deal. Inconsistent policies are harming the ability for the United States to negotiate international deals.

One of the strongest military alliances in the world is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). While NATO was originally formed as a deterrent on communist aggression, it has evolved as a joint defense organization to help ensure the security of western countries. Despite the strong, long-standing relationships, Donald Trump has cast doubt on the United States’ involvement in case one of our partners is attacked. This rhetoric is making our strongest allies question sharing intelligence and isolating the United States from our most important international defense partners as America is no longer seen as a reliable international defense partner.

Since taking office for his second term, Donald Trump, through DOGE, has claimed significant waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending. Claiming they are fixing this fraudulent spending, the administration has cancelled thousands of federal contracts throughout the country; these contracts were already signed with many projects already underway. Areas with cancelled contracts include: farm contracts, rural community housing affordability, medical research, and education. Cutting up congressionally approved contracts without cause will damage the reliability of the federal government for projects going forward.

On top of these recent upheavals in American international relations, the United States has also pulled out of the Paris Agreement (twice), the Trans-Pacific Partnership, UNESCO, the UN Human Rights Council, turned away from Ukraine, and is standing more closely with many of our adversaries than our allies. While many of these were during his first administration, these major shifts in diplomatic policy undercut the reliability of America in international policy which will make it more difficult to trust the United States for years to come.

As Ronald Reagan noted in his speech in 1981, the results of many of these programs are not immediately evident. It takes years, maybe decades, to fully realize the diplomatic value of foreign aid, the improvements from investment in domestic programs, and the deterrent value of our key alliances. Making the United States an unreliable partner in international affairs, as well as in domestic programs, will harm American credibility and have serious ramifications for decades.

Please consider reaching out to your senators and representatives to voice your opinions.

Thank you.

Sources:

Statement on Signing International Security and Foreign Assistance Legislation

Quotes – USGLC

Dow futures tumble as the massive market sell-off continues | CNN Business

Global brokerages raise recession odds; J.P.Morgan sees 60% chance | Reuters

Trump and leaders of Canada and Mexico say tariffs will be delayed one month after talks

The United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief – United States Department of State %

The Future Of Investment In PEPFAR: Understanding PEPFAR’s Multiple Economic, Health, And Diplomatic Impacts | Health Affairs

What Is the Iran Nuclear Deal? | Council on Foreign Relations

The Rise and Fall of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action