Elon Musk Clashes With Lutheran Immigrant Aid Groups

Photo: Graham Dickie/The New York Times

In the 2024 election, exit polls showed that white born again and evangelical Christians accounted for 23% of the electorate. 82% of voters in this diverse cohort voted for Donald Trump to return to the White House, often motivated by religiously charged issues like LGBTQ+ rights and abortion. Less than one month into now-President Trump’s administration, however, Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk has opened a fight with two major evangelical Lutheran synods, which together count over 5 million Americans as members.

On February 1, former U.S. national security advisor Michael Flynn posted an accusation on X that various immigration aid services affiliated with Lutheran synods were responsible for “money laundering” through grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Musk responded to Flynn on February 2, announcing that DOGE was “rapidly shutting down these illegal payments.”

Following Musk’s announcement, leaders of the two largest Lutheran synods in the United States rushed to clarify the status of the organizations targeted by Flynn and Musk. 

Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) forcefully denied wrongdoing on the part of ELCA-associated aid organizations, insisting that they “have done the same work for 85 years in serving legally admitted refugees and immigrants.” The main ELCA-affiliated organization in question, Global Refuge, lists “refugee resettlement,” “asylum services,” and “mental health services” among the work that it conducts as a contractor for the federal government. In total, Flynn’s post shows that Global Refuge (listed by its former name, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service) received $367,612,906 from HHS between November 2024 and January 2025. 

The ELCA, which is known for its relatively liberal social beliefs when compared to other major Lutheran synods, was not alone in responding to Musk and Flynn’s accusations. The Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, president of the conservative Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS), weighed in on the controversy in more amicable terms than Eaton. Harrison affirmed his synod’s “law-abiding and patriotic” qualities, as well as its concerns about “LGBTQ issues” and “DEI philosophy.” Furthermore, Harrison shared that he is “personally pleased” with DOGE, even though the LCMS does not have an official position on the department. 

However, Harrison defended the reputation of aid organizations that have the status of “Recognized Service Organizations” (RSOs) with the LCMS. Harrison confirmed that the LCMS does not have “governing authority over or hand in the financial management of such agencies,” but that LCMS-affiliated RSOs “did not and do not deserve the broad brush of disdain brought upon them.” Though Harrison willingly distanced the LCMS from the ELCA-associated organizations based on doctrinal differences, he made clear that LCMS “RSOs are not to give themselves over to ELCA doctrine and practice,” further demonstrating the reach of Musk’s criticism across Lutheran theological perspectives. 

One of the LCMS RSOs listed in Flynn’s post is Lutheran Services Florida, which is headquartered in Tampa and operates across the Sunshine State. According to the Rev. James H. Rockey, the district president of the LCMS Florida-Georgia District, Lutheran Services Florida is “deeply involved in resettlement efforts, ensuring that those who are legally admitted to the country receive the resources and support necessary to build stable and self-sufficient lives.” Ripping Flynn and Musk’s allegations as “completely unfounded and without basis in fact,” Rockey assured readers that Lutheran Services Florida “operates strictly within the parameters of its contracts to assist individuals legally assigned to its care.”

Based on the numbers in Flynn’s post, Lutheran Services Florida received $82,937,819.95 from HHS in January 2025.

As the sudden attack on Lutheran immigrant aid organizations reverberates through the Lutheran community, concerns are rising among a broader community of Christian humanitarian organizations. After the Trump administration halted spending by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Christian groups that receive USAID money to provide international aid are facing “layoffs, furloughs and severe funding shortages,” according to AP’s Tiffany Stanley. Stanley notes that the Christian nonprofits Catholic Relief Services and World Vision are “two of the 12 largest non-governmental recipients of USAID funds.” 

Adam Phillips, a former director of the Local, Faith, and Transformative Partnerships Hub at USAID, describes the first Trump administration’s support of Christian foreign aid groups as “inspired and rooted in the best of American foreign policy and development work.” Now, Phillips contends that Trump’s second administration is “really going backwards on some extraordinary commitments when it comes to faith-based partners.”

Former USAID administrator Andrew Natsios, who served during former President George W. Bush’s administration, shared similar views to Phillips on USAID spending at a February 13 U.S. House hearing. According to Natsios, broad layoffs in Christian aid organizations as a result of USAID cuts are “damaging the church’s mission in the world.”