Rubio Plans Review and Restructuring of USAID Under Trump Administration

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was named acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development on Monday, told lawmakers he plans to review and potentially restructure or abolish parts of USAID.

Earlier on Sunday evening, Trump was asked by reporters about the state of USAID and said: "Well it's been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we're getting them out...and then we'll make a decision."

"There are a lot of functions of USAID that are going to continue, that are going to be part of American foreign policy, but it has to be aligned with American foreign policy," Rubio told reporters Monday. "Every dollar we spend and every program we fund ... will be aligned with the national interest of the United States, and USAID has a history of sort of ignoring that and deciding that they're somehow a global charity."

USAID is the primary international humanitarian aid and development branch of the U.S. government, and is operated both as an "independent establishment" and under "the direct authority and policy guidance of the Secretary of State," and each administration has taken its own approach to how that should look, according to the Congressional Research Service. The organization was established in 1961 and provides assistance to countries and leads U.S. efforts against poverty, disease, and humanitarian need. In fiscal year 2023, the agency had more than 10,000 employees, managed more than $40 billion in appropriations, and gave assistance to about 130 countries.

Operatives from the Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk leads, were reportedly stopped by senior USAID security officials while trying to access materials at the aid agency's office, including classified information. According to CNN, the two USAID officials were placed on administrative leave on Saturday, and the DOGE operatives were ultimately able to access the classified materials despite lacking the appropriate security clearances. Musk responded to CNN's report by calling USAID a "criminal organization" without any evidence and adding that it was "time for it to die."

Forbes reported on Monday that USAID spent up to $1 million on SpaceX's Starlink terminals over the last four years, according to federal contract records, and brought the satellite terminals to countries including Zimbabwe and South Africa. On April 5, 2022, USAID announced it delivered 5,000 Starlink satellite terminals 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 amid its war with Russia, which was impacting cellular communication infrastructure. Two years later, on May 14, 2024, the USAID Office of Inspector General said it was initiating an inspection of USAID's oversight of the terminals it provided to the Ukrainian government. The inspection sought to determine how Ukraine used the terminals and how USAID monitored their usage, according to an agency page accessed on the WayBackMachine.

The USAID website went offline on Saturday afternoon amid a push by the Trump administration to bring the independent aid agency under the direct control of the State Department. Trump's recent actions -- including an order to freeze most foreign aid -- have triggered confusion and uncertainty at the agency over the past week as staffers feared an impending shutdown. Several of the agency's signs were taken down from its Washington D.C. offices on Friday, NBC News reported. Global aid groups have warned that shutting down USAID and a halt on U.S. foreign aid may have a catastrophic humanitarian impact across the world.