Rubio suggests abolishing much of USAID

On By Littum

Topline

State Secretary Marco Rubio, who was appointed acting administrator by the US Agency for International Development on Monday, told lawmakers that he is planning to review and potentially restructure or abolish parts of USAID.

Timeline

17:22 EST, February 3 Rubio told legislators in a letter “USAID can move, reorganize and integrate certain missions, agencies and offices in the state department, and the rest of the agency can be abolished in accordance with applicable law,” according to Washington PostWith reference to agency activities, he considered “conflicting” and “overlapping” together with systems that “often result in the disagreement of the United States’ foreign policy and foreign relations.”

15:54 EST, February 3 Rubio appointed Pete Marocco, US Director of Foreign Aid, to supervise complaint About him to the agency’s watchdog and claimed he disrupted USAid’s work, gave Vage Directives and marginalized employees).

15:25 EST, February 3Senator Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, told The Wall Street Journal He plans to place a “blanket team” on Trump’s nominated Ministry of State until USAID is alone by the president’s administration, where the senator says he “will do maximum delays until this is resolved.”

12:45 Est, February 3 USAID -staff at an annex office in Washington, DC, was seen clearing their desks, New York Times reported.

12:32 PM EST, February 3Rubio confirmed to journalists who traveled with him in Central America that he had been appointed acting administrator of USAID and said he “delegates” his authority to someone, though The times reported that he did not named the person.

12:18 PM EST, February 3Quotes three anonymous US officials, CBS NEWS Reported Monday that USAID will be merged with the state department and will have “significant cuts in the workforce, but it will remain a humanitarian help unit.”

11:44 Est, February 3Hours after Musk said that Trump approved the closure of USAID, ABC News reported President – If Administration has been apparently moving courage To put USID under the control of the state department – appointed Rubio to temporarily lead the independent organization.

11:21 am est, February 3 Musk continued to rant toward USAID in a post On X, where he said the agency “is/is a radical-left political psyche up.”

February 3rd USAID -employees were told to work from home and avoid the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC, Monday, More Business reported and hundreds of employees lost access to the computer systems overnight according to the Associated Press.

12:00 AST, February 3One X spaces Stream began to discuss the work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), in which Musk said he controlled with the president a few times about USAD – as Musk claimed, without evidence, was “incredibly political partisan” – and asked “are you sure? ” And Trump said yes, “so we shut it down.”

Musk described USAID as not only an “apple with a worm it in”, but rather a “bowl of worms” which was “without repair” and the only solution was “you have to basically get rid of it all. “

Senator Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who was also on the stream, said that if there are “really good pro-American programs” under the authority of the United States, they should be moved under the state department and “make sure we have proper supervision.”

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What did Trump say about USAID on Sunday?

Earlier Sunday night, Trump was asked by journalists about the state of USAID and said, “Well, it has been driven by a lot of radical madms and we get them out … and then we make a decision.”

Crucial quote

“There are many functions in USAID that will continue that will be part of US foreign policy, but it needs to be adapted to US foreign policy,” Rubio told Journalists Monday. “Every dollar we spend and every program we finance … will be adapted to the national interest of the United States, and USAID has a history of ignoring it and deciding that they are somehow a global charity. “

What is USAID?

USAID is the primary international humanitarian aid and development of the US government and is run both as an “independent establishment” and under “the direct authority and political guidance from the Secretary of State” and each administration has taken its own approach to how it should see out, according to Congress Research Service. The organization was established in 1961 and provides assistance to countries and takes us efforts against poverty, illness and humanitarian needs. In the financial year 2023, the Agency had more than 10,000 employees, managed more than $ 40 billion in grants and provided help with about 130 countries.

What to know about Dog’s clash with USAID?

Operatives from the Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk leads, were allegedly stopped by Senior USAID security officials while trying to access material at Aid Agency’s Office, including classified information. According to CNN, the two USAID officials were placed on administrative leave on Saturday, and the DODE OPERATES were ultimately able to access the classified materials despite the lack of the appropriate safety preparations. Musk responded to CNN’s report by calling USAID a “criminal organization” without evidence and added that it was “time for dying.”

Did Elon Musk’s SpaceX work with USAID?

Forbes reported on Monday that USAID spent up to $ 1 million on SpaceX’s Starlink terminals in the past four years, according to federal contract registers, bringing the satellite minals to countries, including Zimbabwe and South Africa. On April 5, 2022, USAID advertised It delivered 5,000 Starlink sateller batteries to Ukraine through a “public-private partnership” with SpaceX, Musk’s Aerospace Company. The terminals were designed to allow officials and service providers to continue communicating with Ukraine in the midst of her war with Russia, affected cellular communication infrastructure. Two years later, on May 14, 2024, the USAID Office for Inspector General said it began an inspection of USAID’s supervision of the terminals it delivered to the Ukrainian government. The inspection tried to determine how Ukraine used the terminals and how USAID monitored their use, according to an agency page that was accessed on Waybackmachine.

Key background

The United States Web site went offline on Saturday afternoon in the middle of a push from the Trump administration to bring the independent aid agency under direct control of the Ministry of State. Trump’s recent actions – including an order to freeze the most foreign aid – has triggered confusion and uncertainty on the agency over the past week as employees feared an imminent shutdown. Several of the agency’s signs were taken down from its Washington DC offices on Friday, NBC News reported. Global help groups have warned This closure of USAID and stopped us for US foreign aid can have a catastrophic humanitarian influence throughout the world.

Additional reading

What to know about Trump’s USAID -Change – After Elon Musk’s Doge accesses classified info (Forbes)

USAID -Websted seems to be offline as Trump -Administration allegedly moving to put it under State Department Control (Forbes)

USAID spent $ 1 million on Elon Musk’s Starlink terminals in the last year (Forbes)