CBS News’ “60 Minutes” received a firestorm of criticism after its Sunday broadcast about USAID layoffs was filled with spin and misinformation – and conservative critics noted that the show’s presentation of two interview subjects was simply false.
The segment featured former federal consultants Kristina Drye and Adam Dubard discussing recent agency cuts, who CBS News falsely claimed were recently fired USAID employees.
“People are really scared,” Drye claimed during the broadcast. “I think that, you know, 12 days ago, people knew where their next paycheck was coming from. They knew how they were gonna pay for their kids’ daycare, their medical bills. And then, all gone overnight.”
Professional profiles reveal both worked as federal contractors, not direct USAID employees.
Drye worked as a “speechwriter and communications analyst” through “XLA and Jefferson Partners,” that was hired by former USAID Administrator Samantha Power’s team during former President Joe Biden’s term.
Dubard served as a “Communications Analyst for XLA” with the agency’s Public Engagement team for less than one year.
DOGE CEO Elon Musk responded to criticism of the segment on X: “60 Minutes is just fully a scam.”
During the broadcast, Dubard claimed the Trump administration was “not looking for competency” but instead “looking for pure loyalty tests and if you don’t give it, you will be punished.”
The recent restructuring moved USAID operations under State Department oversight after a surprise DOGE technical audit of the agency’s $40 billion annual budget.
Approximately 600 positions were retained while implementing vast new accountability measures. For decades, critics said USAID was a prime source of bloat and waste by the U.S. federal government.
Conservative critic Jerry Dunleavy noted years of social media posts from Drye proved she was a far-Left establishment “woke” activist, not simply a fired employee.
Donleavy found that Dyre hung intersex flags in her office, compared Trump voters to Nazis, and repeatedly vowed to “decolonize” her bookshelves. Take a look at who CBS News let spin talking points on “60 Minutes” —
Just a few posts from Kristina Drye, the former longtime speechwriter for the Biden Admin’s USAID administrator Samantha Power. 60 Minutes uncritically quoted Kristina Drye in their segment this evening. pic.twitter.com/3YkSEbXJO4
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) February 17, 2025
Kristina Drye — a former longtime speech writer for the Biden Admin’s USAID administrator Samantha Power who was quoted uncritically by 60 Minutes tonight — wrote in 2016 she voted for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primaries after reading Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of America. pic.twitter.com/Au9V2FfN3n
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) February 17, 2025
Kristina Drye — a former longtime speechwriter for the Biden Admin’s USAID administrator Samantha Power who was quoted uncritically by 60 Minutes tonite — wrote an article earlier this month where she seemed to kinda sorta compare the Trump Admin to Hitler & the Nazis. pic.twitter.com/QrUDculWAr
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) February 17, 2025
Kristina Drye — a former longtime speechwriter for the Biden Admin’s USAID administrator Samantha Power who was quoted uncritically by 60 Minutes tonite — wrote in the summer of 2016 that “America has never been great.” pic.twitter.com/vUWBOxmJVN
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) February 18, 2025
Kristina Drye — former longtime speechwriter for Biden Admin’s USAID administrator Samantha Power who was quoted uncritically by 60 Minutes — lamented in 2019 she “failed abysmally at decolonizing [her] bookshelf” but vowed to “be more intentional about [her] media consumption.” pic.twitter.com/xC2vgtLqDo
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) February 18, 2025