We've already done several pieces from the broadcast news about forest rangers who've been laid off thanks to the downsizing of the government by DOGE. There's just something about forest rangers that the networks think strikes a chord with the public. One park ranger lost his dream job on Valentine's Day of all days.
ABC News has found a different sob story to tell — a USAID staffer had to be evacuated from the Congo, only to return home to a different "crisis" — the dismantling of USAID by Elon Musk and DOGE.
A USAID staffer and his family had to be evacuated to safety from the Congo — only to return home to find Elon Musk leading the dismantling of the agency. https://t.co/x3CqYJ377L
— ABC News (@ABC) March 17, 2025
Kenneth Bledsoe woke up on Jan. 28 fearing for his job. An attorney assigned to the U.S. Agency for International Development mission in the Congo, Bledsoe learned that the Trump administration had culled USAID's senior ranks as an opening salvo in its bid to dismantle the longtime foreign aid agency.
Around midday, however, a more pressing matter arrived at his doorstep -- quite literally.
Protesters had gathered outside the walls of his home in Kinshasa, Bledsoe recalled in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Alex Presha. Colleagues reported looting and fires nearby as part of increasingly violent political demonstrations sweeping through the country.
…
Two days later, after some 30 hours without sleep, Bledsoe, his wife, and their two children arrived in Washington, D.C.
But it wasn't the homecoming he and his colleagues had hoped for. The world's richest man, Elon Musk, was boasting on his social media platform X about "feeding USAID into the wood chipper" as part of his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
"That really, really hurt," Bledsoe said.
So that hurt more or less than having to be evacuated from your home in the Congo doing God knows what while gunshots and explosions went off around you. The U.S. shouldn't have people in such volatile areas, it seems.
"Compounding the trauma of his evacuation and the subsequent attacks on his work, Bledsoe soon learned that he was among the thousands of USAID employees who were placed on administrative leave," ABC News adds.
Elon Musk Saves American from Danger in Congo
— Razor (@hale_razor) March 17, 2025
I remember the time Obama pink slipped dudes actively fighting in Afghanistan. Cool times.
— Voödoo 6 von Inyanga (@6Voodoo) March 17, 2025
Well, they should be happy that they don't have to go to the Congo anymore.
— Grateful Calvin (@shoveitjack) March 17, 2025
I'll admit I laughed at this.
— Skid Willie (@SkidWillie) March 17, 2025
Kenneth Bledsoe said USAID workers love America so much that they were "trying to export the ideas of America to the Congo." So are we back to nation-building? What business of it of ours?
So he is alive and well. Good news story.
— Outside the Box (@MayfieldMx) March 17, 2025
Sounds like a them problem
— Spartacus (@DaOthrJR) March 17, 2025
Good. They can now find a safer job.
— Bailey (@realsnoopbailey) March 17, 2025
That's a sad story. No one has ever lost a job before and found a new one. How will this poor man ever recover?
— Dragon 🐉 (@WeAreAllDragons) March 17, 2025
What in the world were we doing in the Congo?
— Gaeta1986 🍊 (@jameslaura86) March 17, 2025
"Exporting American ideas."
— Matt (@DeadMattBounce) March 17, 2025
Literally nobody gives a fuck. We voted for this.
— Suboptimal (@SuboptimalAGI) March 17, 2025
ABC News just wants you to know that "It stung a lot. Like, it hurt. It still hurts." Yeah, losing your job sucks — we've all been there, but not with an ABC News crew reporting on it.
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