The DOGE team has now taken the step, reported earlier this week, of freezing government payments to the National Endowment for Democracy, a private organization that in 2023 received a $315 million appropriation from Congress, paid via the State Department. That is big news in Washington because the NED, a nongovernmental organization that depends on federal funds, has survived numerous attempts over the years to close it down and up to now has maintained a bipartisan consensus to keep it in business. The move to cut off the organization’s funding suggests that its bipartisan support has at last broken down.
The order from DOGE to freeze further disbursements to the NED has paralyzed the organization, according to news reports. “It’s been a bloodbath,” one NED staffer said. “We have not been able to meet payroll and pay basic overhead expenses.” It sounds as if what happened to USAID last week has now happened to the NED.
DOGE zeroes out the National Endowment for Democracy
American Buddhist Net 