- The Trump administration moves to abolish the agency’s independence and bring it under the control of the State Department
- Nearly 100 USAID staff put on leave amid agency restructuring
- Global aid programs at risk due to US foreign aid freeze
- USAID website down, signaling potential agency closure
Nearly 30 career staff in the agency’s Legislative and Public Affairs bureau lost access overnight to their emails, the sources said, bringing the total number of senior United States Agency for International Development (USAID) career staff who have been put on leave over the past week close to 100.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk has declared that USAID should “die.” Musk, who was appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), on Monday branded USAID a “criminal organisation” after security officials reportedly denied members of his cost-cutting task force access to restricted areas of the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC.
“Time for it to die,” Musk wrote on his social media platform X.
USAID’s director of security, John Voorhees, and his deputy, Brian McGill, were placed on leave after denying DOGE personnel entry to secure areas over their lack of security clearances, multiple US media outlets reported, citing unnamed officials.
Matt Hopson, who was appointed as chief of staff by the Trump administration, has resigned, five sources familiar with the matter said. A congressional source said his resignation followed the security personnel being put on leave. USAID did not respond to a request about Hopson.
The purge follows more than a week of mayhem inside USAID, Washington’s primary agency funding billions of dollars’ worth of life-saving aid globally. President Donald Trump ordered a freeze on almost all U.S. foreign aid, saying his administration will review spending to ensure money is distributed in line with his “America First” foreign policy.
The global freeze on most of U.S. foreign aid is already sending shockwaves around the world. Field hospitals in Thai refugee camps, landmine clearance in war zones, and drugs to treat millions suffering from diseases such as HIV are among the programs at risk of elimination.
U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast on Sunday said that he supported moving USAID under the State Department and that there needs to be “more command and control”.
Asked on CBS’ “Face the Nation” if congressional approval was needed or whether Trump could act unilaterally, Mast did not answer but said restructuring was needed.
The “purging of people throughout the State Department, other agencies” and freezing aid were “all very important and necessary steps to make sure that we secure America,” he said.
Representatives for the State Department and USAID did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Peter Marocco was appointed as head of the Office of Foreign Assistance at the State Department and is leading the agency’s sweeping changes, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Marocco previously served in Trump’s first administration in the Department of Defense. The State Department did not respond to questions about Marocco.
USAID’s website has been down since Saturday afternoon, a sign that the end is near for the agency, whose funding goes to programs on everything from women’s health in conflict zones to access to clean water, HIV/AIDS treatments, energy security and anti-corruption work.
Reuters reported on Friday that the National Security Council hosted discussions this week on the topic and that the White House was exploring legal authorities that Trump could use to issue an executive order to end USAID’s independence.
Written with agency reports
Declaration Of Emergency Rule In Rivers State Was Premature