Jeremy Konyndyk
@jeremykonyndyk.bsky.social
President of @refugeesintl.bsky.social
Humanitarianism, baking, biking. Former lead for COVID (46) and disaster response (44) at USAID.
Personal account.🏊♂️🚴♂️🏃♂️
Support our work! https://www.refugeesinternational.org/donate/
Humanitarianism, baking, biking. Former lead for COVID (46) and disaster response (44) at USAID.
Personal account.🏊♂️🚴♂️🏃♂️
Support our work! https://www.refugeesinternational.org/donate/
Saturday therapy
March 22, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Saturday therapy
And this sweet sweet girl is a 7yo shelter rescue who we thought we were just fostering until she decided she was adopting us. It took her a while to figure out…beds.
March 20, 2025 at 2:16 AM
And this sweet sweet girl is a 7yo shelter rescue who we thought we were just fostering until she decided she was adopting us. It took her a while to figure out…beds.
This handsome guy we got from a foster after his first owner had to give him up. He is a coiled spring of big-puppy energy.
March 20, 2025 at 2:16 AM
This handsome guy we got from a foster after his first owner had to give him up. He is a coiled spring of big-puppy energy.
There is plenty that’s pretty awful out there right now so here are some pics of our recently adopted rescue doggos.
March 20, 2025 at 2:16 AM
There is plenty that’s pretty awful out there right now so here are some pics of our recently adopted rescue doggos.
Holy 🤬 - this part:
March 3, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Holy 🤬 - this part:
...even as WHO is the lead on int'l support to the Ugandan govt.
WHO is really good at this - in large part because of USG investments in their emergency capacity over the past decade.
But Trump has withdrawn the US from WHO and cut off support. whitehouse.gov/presidential...
WHO is really good at this - in large part because of USG investments in their emergency capacity over the past decade.
But Trump has withdrawn the US from WHO and cut off support. whitehouse.gov/presidential...
February 26, 2025 at 10:41 PM
...even as WHO is the lead on int'l support to the Ugandan govt.
WHO is really good at this - in large part because of USG investments in their emergency capacity over the past decade.
But Trump has withdrawn the US from WHO and cut off support. whitehouse.gov/presidential...
WHO is really good at this - in large part because of USG investments in their emergency capacity over the past decade.
But Trump has withdrawn the US from WHO and cut off support. whitehouse.gov/presidential...
I led USAID's operation for the 2014-15 outbreak in West Africa.
Also went to Congo with WHO to assess response at peak of the 2019 outbreak (under Trump 1).
Those were both robust USG ops.
That capacity has now been wrecked.
cgdev.org/publication/...
Also went to Congo with WHO to assess response at peak of the 2019 outbreak (under Trump 1).
Those were both robust USG ops.
That capacity has now been wrecked.
cgdev.org/publication/...
February 26, 2025 at 10:41 PM
I led USAID's operation for the 2014-15 outbreak in West Africa.
Also went to Congo with WHO to assess response at peak of the 2019 outbreak (under Trump 1).
Those were both robust USG ops.
That capacity has now been wrecked.
cgdev.org/publication/...
Also went to Congo with WHO to assess response at peak of the 2019 outbreak (under Trump 1).
Those were both robust USG ops.
That capacity has now been wrecked.
cgdev.org/publication/...
Happy Saturday folks :)
February 15, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Happy Saturday folks :)
Congress specifies to the dollar how much USAID spends on health, humanitarian aid, economic dev't, education, water, etc. And directs spending even further within those categories.
In many countries, >90% of AID spending is Congressionally directed.
oig.usaid.gov/sites/defaul...
In many countries, >90% of AID spending is Congressionally directed.
oig.usaid.gov/sites/defaul...
February 9, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Congress specifies to the dollar how much USAID spends on health, humanitarian aid, economic dev't, education, water, etc. And directs spending even further within those categories.
In many countries, >90% of AID spending is Congressionally directed.
oig.usaid.gov/sites/defaul...
In many countries, >90% of AID spending is Congressionally directed.
oig.usaid.gov/sites/defaul...
Mind-boggling wreckage. Among the lifesaving programs now disrupted by Elon’s attack on @USAID: phase 1 trials for a possible HIV vaccine.
February 6, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Mind-boggling wreckage. Among the lifesaving programs now disrupted by Elon’s attack on @USAID: phase 1 trials for a possible HIV vaccine.
Attempting to dissolve USAID without legislation would be unlawful and a serious breach of the Constitutional separation of powers.
THAT is the fundamental game at play here.
HOW they are carrying this out is most important aspect.
THAT is the fundamental game at play here.
HOW they are carrying this out is most important aspect.
February 3, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Attempting to dissolve USAID without legislation would be unlawful and a serious breach of the Constitutional separation of powers.
THAT is the fundamental game at play here.
HOW they are carrying this out is most important aspect.
THAT is the fundamental game at play here.
HOW they are carrying this out is most important aspect.
USAID was initially established by EO; but later written explicitly into law.
As the great Tess Bridgeman (former USG NatSec lawyer) writes in this piece - USAID was mandated in statute in 1998, and only Congress can reverse that. justsecurity.org/107267/can-p...
As the great Tess Bridgeman (former USG NatSec lawyer) writes in this piece - USAID was mandated in statute in 1998, and only Congress can reverse that. justsecurity.org/107267/can-p...
February 3, 2025 at 6:00 AM
USAID was initially established by EO; but later written explicitly into law.
As the great Tess Bridgeman (former USG NatSec lawyer) writes in this piece - USAID was mandated in statute in 1998, and only Congress can reverse that. justsecurity.org/107267/can-p...
As the great Tess Bridgeman (former USG NatSec lawyer) writes in this piece - USAID was mandated in statute in 1998, and only Congress can reverse that. justsecurity.org/107267/can-p...
Meanwhile another grave issue: the president cannot just unilaterally close an independent federal agency.
DOGE blue-check accounts on the other place have been confidently tweeting that AID was established by EO and so can be dissolved by EO.
Nope.
DOGE blue-check accounts on the other place have been confidently tweeting that AID was established by EO and so can be dissolved by EO.
Nope.
February 3, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Meanwhile another grave issue: the president cannot just unilaterally close an independent federal agency.
DOGE blue-check accounts on the other place have been confidently tweeting that AID was established by EO and so can be dissolved by EO.
Nope.
DOGE blue-check accounts on the other place have been confidently tweeting that AID was established by EO and so can be dissolved by EO.
Nope.
But what we're seeing now goes beyond just a question of folding AID into State.
Reports of DOGE demanding access to AID's classified systems are a 🚨huge alarm bell🚨
The senior security staff were pushed out and Trump-appointed chief of staff resigned in protest.
www.reuters.com/world/us/mor...
Reports of DOGE demanding access to AID's classified systems are a 🚨huge alarm bell🚨
The senior security staff were pushed out and Trump-appointed chief of staff resigned in protest.
www.reuters.com/world/us/mor...
February 3, 2025 at 5:59 AM
But what we're seeing now goes beyond just a question of folding AID into State.
Reports of DOGE demanding access to AID's classified systems are a 🚨huge alarm bell🚨
The senior security staff were pushed out and Trump-appointed chief of staff resigned in protest.
www.reuters.com/world/us/mor...
Reports of DOGE demanding access to AID's classified systems are a 🚨huge alarm bell🚨
The senior security staff were pushed out and Trump-appointed chief of staff resigned in protest.
www.reuters.com/world/us/mor...
Sunday therapy
February 2, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Sunday therapy
This data is publicly available! A short conversation with staff at USAID would have made it pretty obvious.
www.usaid.gov/sites/defaul...
www.usaid.gov/sites/defaul...
January 29, 2025 at 7:42 PM
This data is publicly available! A short conversation with staff at USAID would have made it pretty obvious.
www.usaid.gov/sites/defaul...
www.usaid.gov/sites/defaul...
Sunday bagel therapy
January 26, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Sunday bagel therapy
🚨Trump/Miller are targeting LEGAL immigrants.🚨
Parolees played by the rules and came in through a legal process.
Miller is super clear that expelling them has nothing to do with *how* people came in; everything to do with his bigotry against *where* they came from.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/u...
Parolees played by the rules and came in through a legal process.
Miller is super clear that expelling them has nothing to do with *how* people came in; everything to do with his bigotry against *where* they came from.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/u...
January 24, 2025 at 4:54 AM
🚨Trump/Miller are targeting LEGAL immigrants.🚨
Parolees played by the rules and came in through a legal process.
Miller is super clear that expelling them has nothing to do with *how* people came in; everything to do with his bigotry against *where* they came from.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/u...
Parolees played by the rules and came in through a legal process.
Miller is super clear that expelling them has nothing to do with *how* people came in; everything to do with his bigotry against *where* they came from.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/u...
Rather than a few well crafted EOs on border and immigration policy, they are a jumble of redundant EOs all jostling over the same space.
Do they really needs separate EOs on
-securing the border
-the military securing the border
-the border emergency
-the border "invasion"
??
Do they really needs separate EOs on
-securing the border
-the military securing the border
-the border emergency
-the border "invasion"
??
January 21, 2025 at 5:12 AM
Rather than a few well crafted EOs on border and immigration policy, they are a jumble of redundant EOs all jostling over the same space.
Do they really needs separate EOs on
-securing the border
-the military securing the border
-the border emergency
-the border "invasion"
??
Do they really needs separate EOs on
-securing the border
-the military securing the border
-the border emergency
-the border "invasion"
??
There is so much more awfulness, cruelty, and stupidity in these EOs that I won't try to summarize now.
But after reading them all, my overwhelming reaction is the same as Austin's. These things are a mess, written more as agitprop than as law or policy.
But after reading them all, my overwhelming reaction is the same as Austin's. These things are a mess, written more as agitprop than as law or policy.
January 21, 2025 at 5:12 AM
There is so much more awfulness, cruelty, and stupidity in these EOs that I won't try to summarize now.
But after reading them all, my overwhelming reaction is the same as Austin's. These things are a mess, written more as agitprop than as law or policy.
But after reading them all, my overwhelming reaction is the same as Austin's. These things are a mess, written more as agitprop than as law or policy.
It proposes a range of nebulous immigration restrictions until the president determines the "invasion" is over.
How much you wanna bet Trump will never issue a finding that the "invasion has ceased?"
How much you wanna bet Trump will never issue a finding that the "invasion has ceased?"
January 21, 2025 at 5:12 AM
It proposes a range of nebulous immigration restrictions until the president determines the "invasion" is over.
How much you wanna bet Trump will never issue a finding that the "invasion has ceased?"
How much you wanna bet Trump will never issue a finding that the "invasion has ceased?"
That whole EO is a fearmongering mess - repeatedly asserting an "invasion" and describing migrants as disease vectors and criminals.
Much seems to hinge on the legal salience of "aliens engaged in the invasion" - a phrase the EO deploys repeatedly, but never defines.
Much seems to hinge on the legal salience of "aliens engaged in the invasion" - a phrase the EO deploys repeatedly, but never defines.
January 21, 2025 at 5:12 AM
That whole EO is a fearmongering mess - repeatedly asserting an "invasion" and describing migrants as disease vectors and criminals.
Much seems to hinge on the legal salience of "aliens engaged in the invasion" - a phrase the EO deploys repeatedly, but never defines.
Much seems to hinge on the legal salience of "aliens engaged in the invasion" - a phrase the EO deploys repeatedly, but never defines.
In fact an HHS study (still up on their website for now...download it while you still can) found that refugees and asylees in the US had a net positive economic impact of $124bn (!!).
Screenshot here (for when they inevitably take it down).
acf.hhs.gov/blog/2024/02...
Screenshot here (for when they inevitably take it down).
acf.hhs.gov/blog/2024/02...
January 21, 2025 at 5:12 AM
In fact an HHS study (still up on their website for now...download it while you still can) found that refugees and asylees in the US had a net positive economic impact of $124bn (!!).
Screenshot here (for when they inevitably take it down).
acf.hhs.gov/blog/2024/02...
Screenshot here (for when they inevitably take it down).
acf.hhs.gov/blog/2024/02...