A couple of weeks ago, Trump and billionaire donor Elon Musk—who Trump named as head of the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency—announced that U.S. Agency for International Development would be dismantled.

On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Newton, announced he’d be bringing Newton resident Dr. Atul Gawande, former assistant administrator for Global Health at USAID, as his guest for Trump’s address to Congress Tuesday night.

“The global vaccination efforts of Dr. Gawande and the public health officials at USAID have saved millions of lives and prevented unnecessary suffering,” Auchincloss said. “For the first time since 2003, a child in the U.S. has died from measles. Trump’s dismantling of USAID and his promotion of anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—who refuses to unequivocally recommend the measles vaccine—as our nation’s top health officer is reversing decades of progress in eradicating the world’s deadliest diseases.”

Gawande is a surgeon, a bestselling author and a renowned leader in public health. Before he joined USAID, he served as a general and endocrine surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School.

Gawande also founded the health systems innovation company Ariadne Labs as well as Lifebox, a nonprofit organization aimed at improving surgical safety worldwide.

As assistant administrator with USAID, Gawande oversaw global networks of treatment care and emergency health responses. Since taking office on Jan. 20, the Trump administration has cut more than 90 percent of the federal grants to USAID programs including those for malaria clinics, tuberculosis outbreaks and HIV medicines.

“The experience of USAID shows what doing surgery with a chainsaw on the US government looks like. It is a bloodbath,” Gawande said. “The dismantling of USAID is costing tens of thousands of American jobs, massive loss of life, and mismanagement of billions of taxpayer dollars—the exact opposite of addressing fraud, waste, and abuse. The American people deserve to hear an explanation for why he’s firing public servants who keep America secure and cutting programs that save lives.”

President John F. Kennedy created USAID in 1961 by executive order, directing the State Department to establish a permanent, autonomous agency to provide medical help and disaster relief to third world and developing areas.

Now, a visit to the USAID website leads to instructions for staff to pick up their belongings.