DOGE’s Gift to the Chinese Communist Party

I f Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has a core competency, it’s scandalizing the nation over the wasteful and fruitless government programs the Government Accountability Office identifies on an annual basis, albeit with fewer social media posts accusing the executors of those programs of criminal malfeasance. One of the modestly funded initiatives that has recently captured Musk’s attention, the National Endowment for Democracy, has whipped Musk into a familiar social media frenzy.

NED is “RIFE with CORRUPTION,” he wrote, singling out GOP Senator Todd Young, who sits on the State Department–backed NGO’s board. The agency and its members are guilty of “crimes,” he added of the “scam” it perpetrates — citing the evidence compiled by X’s artificial intelligence tool, Grok. Among the offenses NED has supposedly committed, its “CIA-like operations” raise “concerns about its true purpose and methods.” Indeed, the outfit has “historical ties to the CIA” and funds “anti-government protests” designed to “destabilize countries.” It even backs “color revolutions” — all of which indicate that the organization wields “a strategic use of democracy promotion for geopolitical gain.”

Sorry, what’s the problem here? If only the rest of the government’s wasteful programs were as focused on advancing America’s “geopolitical gain” as NED appears to be — at least, according to its critics. And all for roughly $300 million (most of the organization’s funding is private) out of the unfathomable $4 trillion the U.S. government spends on an annual basis. What a scandal.

If the language Musk cited favorably sounds suspiciously like what America’s adversaries say about NED, you’re not imagining things.

According to the Chinese Communist Party’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NED is “the implementer of CIA covert operations” and is guilty of “innumerable evil deeds.” It was established by Ronald Reagan to “openly support ‘democratic movements abroad,’” the ChiComs complained. Toward that end, NED is guilty of “attempting to overthrow” the Iranian and North Korean regimes, backing Ukraine’s pro-Western movements during the Orange and Maidan revolutions, supporting “democracy and freedom” in Arab countries, backing opposition parties inside Vladimir Putin’s Russia, and having supported exiled dissidents and local trade unions in their efforts to weaken the totalitarian menaces that seek to overturn the U.S.-led world order.

Again, it’s a struggle to see where NED has strayed from the enlightened path. If only every USAID program were as defensible as, for example, the covert efforts to foment unrest against the communists in Havana — a source of perennial irritation for the American Left. But unlike with USAID, the connections between what NED does abroad and America’s interests are far less tenuous.

Unfortunately, as the Free Press’s Eli Lake wrote this week, NED’s function is far less ambitious than the overcaffeinated communists populating the internet with content from Beijing let on. “NED does not direct recipients of its grants to organize demonstrations,” he wrote, “it trains citizens in such democratic basics as how to prepare for elections.” In other words, the basic work of cultivating civil society in countries in which the state crowds out (by design) private association and the trouble those associations can cause.

If, however, you’re an apparatchik clinging to the power the CCP stole from its people at gunpoint, the distinction between subversion and democracy promotion is cosmetic. Zhongnanhai has been beating its chest over NED for decades, be it over Western support for the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong or its backing of “Taiwan’s separatist” elements. The CCP has been reluctant to interrupt its enemy while it’s making a mistake, but those who support the cause of Chinese democracy have been more vocal.

“The impact will be hugely negative,” said Chinese dissident Teng Biao. “A lot of dissidents and activists don’t want to make it public but have received money from NED. It is unlikely that most of the organizations can get alternative funding.”

Beijing isn’t the only American adversary abroad that likely cannot believe their luck. The Iranian state news agency has agitated against the agency for years, often on China’s behalf. Moscow’s tools cannot contain their glee over the “First Buddy’s” demonization of this thorn in their side. The official voice of the Cuban Communist Party has bemoaned the extent to which “even our labor unions, with their deep commitment to justice, are in the crosshairs of the NED.” The DPRK has fumed over the outlet’s assistance for North Koreans who escape the hermit kingdom and its legal backing for South Korean activist groups that encourage escapees and foment dissent in the world’s last Stalinist regime.

None of this is to say that the organization, which is only partly U.S.-funded and governed by a politically well-connected but independent board, cannot be better organized or has not prioritized programs that may fail to generate a return on investment. But proponents of governmental efficiency should not dismiss the extent to which the enemies of America — indeed, of the civilized world — are relishing their good fortune. As part of DOGE’s slapdash effort to rein in waste, NED’s operations are reportedly “grinding to a halt as the group begins furloughing staff due to a lack of cash.”

For some Republicans, that’s not an unintended consequence but a desirable outcome. After all, as Senator Mike Lee boomed with unearned triumphalism, NED is just “another politicized NGO meddling in the affairs of our friends and allies regardless of what’s best for the American people.” The Chinese Communist Party couldn’t have said it better.