President George W. Bush stands with Ward Brehm after presenting him with the 2008 Presidential Citizens Medal Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008, in the Oval Office of the White House.
Someone in the federal government is actually fighting DOGE, and it’s a deeply Christian, lifelong Republican businessman.
Conservative evangelical Minnesota businessman Ward Brehm has been a member of the board of the US African Development Foundation (USADF) since 2004, when he was appointed by George W. Bush. He was reappointed by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate in 2010. With no replacement after his term expired in 2017, Brehm continued to serve on the board to the present day.
Now Brehm and the rest of the Senate-confirmed leadership of USADF, created by an act of Congess in 1980, is fighting DOGE to survive. The chair of USADF is former congresswoman and ambassador Carol Moseley Braun, confirmed in March and sworn in on April 30 2024; the vice chair Dr. John O. Agwunobi, confirmed to the board in 2008; and the other board members Morgan Davis, confirmed with Agwuboni in 2008 and John Leslie Jr., confirmed in 2016. There are two seats reserved for federal African affairs employees; Mary Catherine Phee’s nomination to succeed Linda Thomas Greenfield, who resigned in 2021, was ignored by the Senate multiple times. It is unclear if former Assistant Administrator for Africa for the U.S. Agency for International Development Linda Etim, who was confirmed in 2016, ever resigned from the board.
In February, Trump announced he wanted the congressionally chartered corporation shut down. DOGE hackers came to the independent agency and tried to take over the servers, but the staff challenged their authority and refused access. Then the Office of Presidential Personnel tried to fire the entire board and install January 6th insurrectionist Pete Marocco, which is how they eliminated the Inter-American Foundation.
OPP deputy director Trent Morse tried to send emails to board members informing them of their firing, but did not send them to correct email addresses.
The USADF board held an emergency meeting on Monday, elected Brehm as USADF president and CEO, and told Congress they had done so.
President Brehm refused the DOGE crew and Marocco entry into the US ADF HQ on Wednesday; they then forced their way in on Thursday with the help of US Federal Marshals; Brehm immediately filed suit; and the judge—a W appointee—issued an emergency stay keeping Brehm on the job.
The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at Courtroom 18 on the 6th floor of the Prettyman DC District Courthouse at 3 pm, 333 Constitution Ave NW.
The text of Brehm’s letter to DOGE hacker Nate Cavanaugh:
Dear Mr. Cavanaugh,I am responding to your email sent yesterday to USADF staff about your plan to visit the Foundation along with Mr. Marocco today. Unfortunately, I am out of the office today. In my absence, I have specifically instructed the staff of USADF to adhere to our rules and procedure of not allowing any meetings of this type without my presence.
As you likely know, the President has the authority and the responsibility to nominate USADF Board Members, but by law, no person may be seated on the Board until the President has made such a nomination and that nomination has been confirmed by the Senate. Once a nomination has been confirmed, the President of the United States of course, may also appoint the Chair among the Board’s confirmed board members. USADE is an independent agency of the federal government, created by an Act of Congress.
We receive our funding as a line item in the budget and report directly to Congress in accordance with statutory mandates that we do so.
That said, we have fully cooperated to date with the President’s request that we temporarily cease disbursing any funds, and as requested, we have submitted to OMB our report describing USADF’s statutory mission and the resources required for the Foundation to fulfill that mission.
I will look forward to working with Mr. Marocco after such time that he is nominated for a seat on the Board and his nomination is confirmed by the Senate. Until these legal requirements are met, Mr. Marocco does not hold any position or office with USADF, and he may not speak or act on the Foundation’s behalf.
Sincerely,
Ward Brehm
President and CEO
US African Development Foundation
Cc: USADF Board