For Immediate Release: New PAC Focused on Foreign Aid Endorses James Walkinshaw for Congress

The Alliance 4 American Leadership is proud to endorse Supervisor James Walkinshaw for Congress. We’re endorsing James Walkinshaw for one simple reason: he gets it. He understands that turning our backs on our allies isn’t just morally wrong; it’s a strategic disaster. 

Currently, 28 volunteers at the Alliance 4 American Leadership are serving on Walkinshaw’s campaign. “I support James Walkinshaw because he is a strong, compassionate leader who truly cares about the voices and concerns of constituents like me.” Nida Hadi, a volunteer for the Alliance 4 American Leadership and a resident of Herndon, VA, said. “By upholding humanitarian values and championing foreign aid, he has devoted his career to keeping our communities safe and connected. Walkinshaw doesn’t just show up; he delivers. I can’t think of anyone better suited to lead Virginia's 11th District with such integrity and devotion than him.”

Walkinshaw earned the endorsement of the late Congressman Gerry Connolly, a tireless champion of foreign assistance who was once known on Capitol Hill as “Mr. Foreign Aid.” Like Congressman Connolly, Walkinshaw knows that abandoning American leadership has devastating consequences.

The unprecedented USAID shutdown is a case in point. On January 24, 2025, the United States abruptly cut off access to food, medicine, and education for 120 million people worldwide. At least 340,000 lives have already been sacrificed for cuts that saved the federal government less than 0.3% of its annual budget.

While America turns its back on its allies, China is stepping in, rapidly expanding its foreign assistance programs and debt-trap diplomacy, deepening its influence, and filling the void we’ve left behind. The result isn’t just a loss of trust in our country, it’s a more dangerous world for Americans.

Here at home, the costs are staggering. In Virginia’s 11th District alone, the cuts have stripped local businesses and nonprofits of more than $1.3 billion in contracts. That’s not just a policy failure. It’s a betrayal of American workers, our credibility, and the leadership we’ve spent generations building.

While James Walkinshaw is the first to earn our endorsement, he won't be the last. Over the next two years, we're mobilizing 10,000 volunteers to help rebuild America’s role as a force for good in the world.

We are honored to welcome Walkinshaw as the keynote speaker at our national launch reception on July 9th - the first of launch events across all 50 states. Join us by registering at https://givebutter.com/leadamerica

Paid for by Alliance 4 American Leadership. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

The Alliance for American Leadership (A4AL) honors Congressman Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA) as he prepares to retire at the end of his current term, celebrating a distinguished career dedicated to advancing American leadership, safeguarding our democratic institutions, and inspiring the next generation of public servants.

The Alliance for American Leadership (A4AL) — a national coalition of young professionals and foreign policy experts dedicated to revitalizing principled American engagement abroad — includes eight advocates from Congressman Connolly’s district. It was founded by Asher Moss, a former intern in the office of Congressman Connolly, whose commitment to public service was shaped by the Congressman’s example.

Long before his election to Congress, Congressman Connolly earned a reputation as Mr. Foreign Aid during his decade as a staffer on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 

Describing his time as a Committee staffer for an article in Roll Call, Congressman Connolly said, “The world suddenly just blew apart as I was just beginning my tenure…I had oversight of the entire foreign assistance program and responsibility for writing the annual foreign aid authorization bill. So that gave me a worldwide responsibility, a pretty broad portfolio. I was Mr. Foreign Aid.”

Members of A4AL offered reflections on the personal impact of Congressman Connolly’s leadership:

"Interning for Congressman Connolly was a privilege. His deep commitment to good governance and our democratic institutions was undeniable," said Asher Moss, Executive Director of the Alliance for American Leadership. "I always admired the framed article in his office calling him ‘Mr. Foreign Aid’ — a reminder of how fiercely he fought for American leadership. His example will continue to inspire a generation of advocates, public servants, and leaders who understand that American leadership is not an option; it is a responsibility."
— Asher Moss, former intern for Congressman Connolly, Executive Director of the Alliance for American Leadership

“Congressman Connolly has served Northern Virginia and our nation with unmatched integrity and passion. His relentless commitment to defending democracy and advocating for American leadership as a force of good in the world will leave an enduring legacy for younger generations.”
— Camillo Morales, constituent of Congressman Connolly, A4AL Advisory Board Member

"Representative Connolly has always demonstrated unwavering commitment to American leadership abroad. Over more than a decade in Congress, he consistently championed human rights, democracy, and global health programs. Most recently, he emerged as a leading voice against efforts to dismantle USAID, defending its vital role in promoting development, stability, and U.S. global engagement. His legacy of principled leadership and steadfast dedication to America’s values will be deeply missed."
— Sam Acharya, constituent of Congressman Connolly, A4AL Managing Director

“As my representative, Congressman Connolly made me proud as he always pushed for smart policies that put the human first. His support for agencies like USAID assured me that he had nothing but the best in mind for those in and out of his district.”
— Chris Griffith, constituent of Congressman Connolly, A4AL advocate

As Congressman Connolly concludes a storied career, the Alliance for American Leadership remains committed to upholding the ideals he so faithfully advanced: principled leadership, robust foreign engagement, and a democracy that serves both its citizens and the world.

On Easter Sunday, Melanie was fired. She wasn’t a bureaucrat collecting dust—she was a frontline worker at USAID, managing programs that delivered food, medical care, and protection to people in some of the most dangerous places on earth. She gave nearly a decade of her life to America’s humanitarian mission. And in return, she was told her job was no longer in the “best interest of the United States.”

What follows isn’t just a letter. It’s a eulogy for the promise we once made to the world—a promise to stand for dignity, decency, and life itself.

The Letter They Don’t Want You to See

On Easter Sunday, my dream job with USAID was terminated. I was notified only several weeks prior that my role as an Agreement Officer's Representative, overseeing lifesaving humanitarian assistance programs, was no longer in the best interest of the United States.

I joined USAID in 2016, and worked most of that time in the Office of Food for Peace and Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance. The work that my organization does saves lives, alleviates suffering, and aims to make the world a better place. The times I cried reading reports of dire needs in other countries, seeing firsthand how people live who rely on our assistance, hearing accounts of mothers and children who are barely surviving... the job was never easy. As a highly empathetic person, I carried the weight of this suffering with me daily. Knowing aid was not reaching people who desperately need it, and knowing it may never reach them again breaks me. I shed so many tears so far this year. For myself and my future, but mainly for the children who are not getting malnutrition treatment, the widowed mothers who rely on our generosity to feed their families, the girls who have nowhere safe to turn after facing abuse at home. For the promises we have broken to people throughout the world, and the promises we have broken to people here at home.

I spent the last few years focusing on Yemen, which is currently one of the world's most dire humanitarian crises. After / was notified of my employment termination and while I was at our office building working hard to save the programs I spent years building up, I found out I was suffering the loss of an early pregnancy. I undoubtedly believe that was caused by the stress / was put under by this administration, and my doctor inclined to agree. After this happened I stayed at the office, pushing through my own sadness while trying to ensure that the humanitarian programs I care so deeply about could continue. By the end of the day, nearly all of them were terminated. I had access to medical care. But I knew, at that exact moment, that women overseas were losing that same right-midwives left unpaid, clinics shuttered, no ambulances available. And since then I have often wondered: why would some people feel more compassion for my personal loss than for the women overseas who now face that pain alone? I grieve not only for myself, but for all of them.

During my time with USAID, I worked many late nights in the office, staying up until 3 AM to meet end of fiscal year deadlines. I hid under desks at embassies and ran to bunkers in the middle of the night with missiles coming toward the city. I held people as they cried over the atrocities they witnessed first hand. I functioned on nothing but coffee and the hope that I could make the world a better place for people.

I will always look back on my almost decade with USAID as some of the best years of my life. I started my career there at age 23, grew into a real adult there, and traveled the world there; I represented the United States in ten different countries. I worked with some of the best people this world has to offer, and met people that I know will be lifelong friends. Someone much further in her career once told me she had never seen a group of women uplift and support each other like one of my work teams had done. / will always be proud of that./ would not be the person I am without the time I had in this industry. I know that if twelve year old me could see the future and know who she would grow up to be, she would be excited for what the future holds for her.

While I am happy for all of the experiences I had, more than anything I am heartbroken that it is over. Watching the slow dismantling of an industry and the organization I dedicated my whole adult life to has been nothing short of traumatizing. The bags under my eyes and grays on my head are one small reflection of how I feel inside. I lost the job I loved at the same time I lost the chance to love a child that I was excited for, to start a next chapter for my family.

I cannot say this enough times: US foreign assistance saves lives and helps keep America safe. Humanitarian assistance and emergency food aid was not able to continue following the Executive Orders and chaotic messaging received from high political levels. I truly believe this to be intentional, making a villain of USAID and making us unable to continue doing our jobs. USAID is not a criminal organization, and USAID is not simply being merged into the State Department as people have been made to think. The humanitarian architecture has been dismantled, and lifesaving aid cannot continue with the extremely limited amount of staff that are yet to be terminated. The government waste, abuse, and inefficiency that occurred during this process is astronomical.

This is not the future I want for the child that I still hope to have one day. I hope my children, should I be lucky enough to have them, will grow up to be compassionate, empathetic, and kind. I hope they treat the world's most vulnerable with dignity and respect. I hope they are proud of the America they will live in. We are at our best when we extend compassion, not just within our borders, but beyond them. I will never waiver from the belief that all those in the world deserve help, and I will never stop finding ways to make the world a better place both for myself and for my future children.

-Melanie, USAID staff member of ten years

What You Can Do Right Now

Melanie's story is not unique. But it is urgent. This administration has intentionally dismantled a pillar of the postwar order—a system built by Americans, not just to lead the world, but to serve it. If we abandon that role now, we may not get it back. And the people who will pay the price aren't sitting in Washington boardrooms. They're sitting in bombed-out clinics, in famine zones, in refugee camps.

Call your members of Congress and demand they protect humanitarian aid. It takes less than a minute—find your representative here.

And if you want to support USAID staffers like Melanie, who have lost their jobs, you can donate here. Every contribution matters.

History will ask what we did in this moment. Let’s make sure we have an answer.

I love the West. 

I love what it aspired to be after the fires of fascism and empire nearly burned the world down. I believe in the postwar institutions it built—NATO, the UN, the EU, the WTO—not because they were flawless, but because they were necessary. Because they said, for the first time in human history, that the powerful would be bound by laws, and that peace and dignity could be the basis for international life.

I love that in 38 countries I can marry who I love. I love that the press can hold power to account. I love my right to vote. I love that since 1990 over a billion people have been lifted out of poverty. I love that I can travel to just about anywhere in the world and walk in someone else’s shoes. I love the West for things big and small.

I believe in the liberal world order, not as some abstract concept, but because it was earned—in blood, in trauma, in resistance. Our ancestors fought for it. They died for it. And now, the current Administration is throwing it away.

USAID: The First Domino to Fall

USAID, created to fulfill the promise of that liberal order, was never just an aid agency. It was a commitment. A tool to help remake the world through education, food, medicine, and peace. To say to newly independent nations, to war-torn regions, to children and mothers and displaced peoples: You are not alone.

And now USAID is being dismantled.

Trauma clinics in Ukraine are closing. HIV treatment pipelines are collapsing. Food aid programs have vanished. Children will die.

The West's Enemies Are Wearing Its Flag

Political extremists claim to love the West. But when they talk about “Western civilization,” they don’t mean pluralism, democracy, or international law. They mean cultural supremacy. They mean race. They mean dominance.

They don’t want a West defined by shared responsibility and universal rights. They want a West where power is hoarded, where empathy is weakness, and where the most are left to rot because they dares to be poor, brown, queer, or free.

The politicians rising across Europe and North America aren’t fighting to preserve Western values—they’re fighting to erase them. They talk about saving the West, but what they love is the imagined West of colonial maps and imperial grandeur. Their “love” is not for justice. It is for control.

Yes, the West Has Sinned. But It Has Also Grown.

Let’s not be naïve. The liberal world order has always carried contradictions. The West preached freedom while backing dictatorships. 

But those failures came not from believing in liberalism too much, but from betraying it. From choosing dominance over principle. From forgetting that the entire point of the order was to restrain power, not worship it.

USAID was an imperfect institution. But it was part of that aspiration. It was a way to make amends and to build instead of conquer. To dismantle it now is not just reckless—it’s cowardly. It’s disgraceful.

The Human Cost, Then and Now

This order was not handed to us. It was built from smoldering cities and mass graves. It was built by Jews who crawled out of death camps and insisted “Never again.” By women who rebuilt bombed-out towns. By American soldiers and civil servants who believed that suffering should not be the world’s default setting.

And now? We throw it away?

We dishonor the dead when we treat this world as disposable. And if we’re not careful, we may be asked to build it all again—through blood, through ruin, through another unimaginable cost.

This isn’t melodrama. It’s history. And we are repeating it.

What You Can Do

The dismantling of USAID is not just a footnote in a policy fight. It’s the frontline in a war over whether decency, responsibility, and shared humanity still mean anything in the world’s most powerful country.

We have a choice. But the window is closing.

Please tell your Members of Congress to support humanitarian aid. You can find their name and phone number here.

And please consider joining us at the Alliance for American Leadership to help lead in the fight to preserve the West we love, not the myth dictated by extremists.

Don’t let this be the generation that forgot what was built—and how much it cost.