WASHINGTON: Employees of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) were directed to work remotely after receiving an emergency notification that the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC, would be closed, Business Insider reported.
The move came just hours after billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who heads an unofficial cost-cutting agency, stated on X that the agency was set to be shut down, reinforcing reports that President Donald Trump intended to merge USAID into the State Department.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday declared himself the acting head of USAID, announcing that a review of the agency’s foreign assistance activities was underway to assess potential reorganisation.
The State Department confirmed Rubio’s role in a post on X, stating that the review would determine if USAID’s operations aligned with the administration’s foreign policy objectives.
A USAID-wide message sent to employees instructed staff working at the Washington office to work from home, with the exception of essential personnel responsible for building maintenance.
CNN reported that employees also received this directive via email, though the message did not specify when or if the office would reopen.
Musk, who leads an initiative known as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), claimed he had discussed USAID’s future with Trump. Speaking on X Spaces, Musk said: “With regards to the USAID stuff, I went over it in detail, and [Trump] agreed that we should shut it down.”
Trump, who has been critical of USAID, accused the agency of mismanagement, telling reporters it was run by “radical lunatics.” He had previously ordered a 90-day freeze on foreign aid, and on 24 January, Rubio halted all new funding for USAID programmes, citing the need for a review to prevent redundancy and ensure alignment with Trump’s policies, CBS News reported.
A long-time USAID employee, as cited by Business Insider, said staff were feeling “nervous, annoyed, sad, anxious – what you’d imagine.” They criticised the lack of direct communication from agency leadership, saying, “We wish they would tell us directly what’s happening instead of waking up to emails and texts.”
Democrats denounce move as ‘illegal’
Congress established USAID in 1961 as the government’s primary humanitarian aid agency. With a budget of $32 billion for the 2024 fiscal year, USAID provides assistance across 65 countries, including Ukraine and Syria, according to archived press releases.
The agency employs more than 10,000 personnel worldwide, as reported by the Congressional Research Service.
Democratic lawmakers have condemned the Trump administration’s attempt to merge USAID with the State Department, calling it unconstitutional.
In a letter issued on Sunday, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats stated that such a move requires congressional approval.
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They also raised concerns over reports that DOGE personnel had accessed USAID headquarters and sensitive data, an allegation that DOGE spokesperson Katie Miller denied, writing on X that “no classified material was accessed without proper security clearances.”
Senator Chris Van Hollen warned that dismantling USAID would weaken US global influence and aid efforts, calling the move “plain illegal” and a “gift to our adversaries.”
Senator Chris Murphy alleged that Musk’s involvement was driven by his business interests in China. “China is cheering at this action today,” Murphy claimed.
Impact on global aid efforts
The sudden disruption at USAID has already affected aid operations worldwide. In Afghanistan, medical centres funded by the agency have closed. In Syria, hundreds of staff operating the Al-Hol displacement camp – which houses 40,000 people, mostly women and children – received “stop work” orders, the BBC reported.
With USAID’s website offline, vital resources, including an international famine tracker and decades of aid records, have become inaccessible. The shutdown follows Trump’s freeze on foreign aid, which has disrupted humanitarian programmes globally.