Secretary of state Marco Rubio becomes acting director of US aid agency

In the most recent setback for America’s primary foreign aid organization, the US Agency for International Development will close its offices once more on Tuesday. This comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that he had assumed the role of acting director. On Monday, the agency’s headquarters was abruptly closed, and employees were instructed via email in the morning to work from home. According to the email seen by the Financial Times, they received a similar message in the evening telling them to stay at home on Tuesday. However, many employees were not given access to the email system. The action was described as “an interim step toward gaining control and better understanding over the agency’s activity” by the Department of State.

President Donald Trump has claimed that USAID is run by “radical lunatics,” and aid workers, diplomats, and lawmakers have been attempting to make sense of concerning episodes at the organization. Dozens of officials have been placed on leave, hundreds have lost email access, and its website is offline. The most recent indication that the agency would be merged into the State Department was Rubio’s announcement. Rubio stated during a visit to El Salvador that “there are a lot of functions of USAID that are going to continue.” “They will be incorporated into American foreign policy, but it must be in line with it.” Trump said reporters on Sunday night that USAID had been “run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out.”

Trump told reporters on Sunday night that USAID had been “run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out.” He said that after that, a decision will be made. Elon Musk claimed to have Trump’s backing to close down USAID, whose “Department of Government Efficiency” has been implicated in the actions against the organization. “Without the president’s full support, none of this could be accomplished,” Musk stated in an audio interview posted on X early on Monday morning. “I went over everything with him in detail, and he agreed that we should shut down the USAID stuff.” Musk’s Doge has been held accountable by Trump for reducing what both men claim is unnecessary US government spending.

According to numerous media accounts, Gavin Kliger, an engineer on Musk’s Doge team, sent the email to USAID workers. A request for comment from Kliger was not immediately answered. With over 10,000 workers globally, USAID is an independent organization in charge of managing US development and foreign aid initiatives. The administrator of USAID was promoted to the National Security Council by former President Joe Biden. Although they have their own budget, the USAID administrator operates under Rubio’s direction. Multiple attempts for comment from USAID were not answered. Trump and his administration have made it apparent that they want US foreign assistance to support his “America First” stance. Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary for the White House, listed diversity and inclusion initiatives worldwide on Monday, highlighting what she described as “some of the insane priorities that that organization has been spending money on.” She went on to say, “I know the American people don’t want their money going towards this crap, and neither do I.”

There may be less funding available for established development and assistance programs as a result of USAID’s integration with the state department. Additionally, this might undermine global humanitarian efforts and give China the opportunity to step in. The organization Public Citizen, which was established by seasoned consumer campaigner Ralph Nader, is getting ready to file a lawsuit against Trump for trying to close the agency. The goal was to stop the president’s executive order, which “will save the US effectively no money but cost many lives,” according to Peter Maybarduk, chairman of the organization’s access to medicines section. According to those acquainted with the situation, two senior security personnel were put on leave on Saturday night for denying Doge officials access to internal agency networks, including secret data.

Following the forcible removal of the security professionals, the people claimed that part of the information was made available to the Doge employees. “No classified material was accessed without proper security clearances,” stated Doge representative Katie Miller. The altercation was initially reported by CNN. Since last week, dozens of additional career USAID officials have also been placed on leave; some are alleged to have attempted to obstruct Trump’s directives for the organization. According to a person familiar with the situation, Matt Hopson, the agency’s chief of staff, resigned following the incident.

Pete Marocco, a state department official who was appointed interim deputy administrator by Rubio and is in charge of coordinating US foreign aid, is in charge of the agency’s modifications. According to numerous media sources, he was an official under the first Trump administration who was present when rioters overran the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The Senate foreign relations committee’s top Democrat, Jeanne Shaheen, along with a number of other senior Democrats, wrote to Rubio, requesting an explanation for the recent events at USAID and pointing out that any attempt to fold or merge the agency into the state department “by law must be previewed, discussed, and approved by Congress.” Thousands of workers have been laid off or placed on furlough by numerous American companies with USAID contracts as a result of the “stop work orders,” and more layoffs are anticipated in the coming weeks.