In an interview with FRANCE 24, Nicolas Enrich, a former senior USAID official-turned-whistleblower, said the US agency was dismantled not to cut waste but "to soothe the ego of the world's richest man", then DOGE head Elon Musk. Enrich warned that up to 14 million people could die in the next five years as a result and called the shutdown "illegal".
Enrich, a former director of policy in USAID's Bureau for Global Health who was ousted after publishing an internal memo, said the DOGE team had "no idea" what the agency did. He recalled briefing its newly appointed chief of staff, only to be met with the admission: "Wow, I had no idea that you did all this. I assumed it was just, you know, abortions."
