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Some Department of Government Efficiency staffers were blocked by staffers from entering an African aid office in the latest clash between federal agencies and the Elon Musk-led cost-cutting arm.
On Wednesday, DOGE workers and Pete Marocco, director of the Office of Foreign Assistance at the State Department, arrived at the U.S. African Development Foundation headquarters in Washington, D.C., to get access and fire employees, according to the Washington Post. The roughly 50-person agency refused to let them inside
After about an hour of trying to enter the independent federal agency’s building, they left, the Post reported.
USADF is an independent agency established by Congress in 1980 to invest “in African grassroots organizations, entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises.” It currently operates in 21 African countries and has made investments in over 40.
Two “very young men” sporting backpacks at around 11.30 a.m. claimed to a security officer that they were staff at the foundation — yet they lacked key cards — and needed access to the building. The security officer then asked agency employees whether to allow the visitors inside; the employees refused, an official familiar with the matter told the outlet.
The description of the visitors aligned with the DOGE workers who had previously shown up to the building for an initial introduction, the Post reported. The aid workers were then aware that DOGE had plans to dismantle the agency. That’s when the security guard reported that the young men were threatening to call the U.S. Marshals; his boss told him to let the visitors upstairs. The pair reached foundation’s floor, but no workers let them in, as staff stayed at their desks while the men roamed the halls before leaving at around 12.30 p.m., the outlet reported.
Video footage, posted online by a ProPublica reporter, captured the backpack-strapped men and others wearing suits and ties standing near the elevators. It’s not immediately clear when Marocco and the others joined the two young men.
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They threatened to come back Thursday — flanked by U.S. Marshals.
A day before the visit, agency President and CEO Ward Brehm signaled he was aware that Marocco had planned to visit the building in a letter to a DOGE official. Trump is considering tapping Marocco, who also currently serves as deputy administrator-designate at the U.S. Agency for International Development, to lead the foundation, The Hill reported.
In the letter, Brehm explained his instructions to his staff for when he was out of office: “In my absence, I have specifically instructed the staff of USADF to adhere to our rules and procedure of not allowing any meetings of this type without my presence.”
The president has the authority and responsibility to nominate foundation board members, but “by law, no person may be seated on the Board until the President has made such a nomination and that nomination be confirmed by the Senate,” Brehm continued.
He looks forward to meeting Marocco after he’s nominated and confirmed, he added. “Until these legal requirements are met, Mr. Marocco does not hold any position or office with USADF, and he may not speak or act on the Foundation’s behalf.”
The Independent has reached out to the foundation and the State Department for comment.
The standoff comes weeks after Trump issued a February 19 executive order calling for the elimination of a handful of foreign assistance agencies — including the Presidio Trust, the Inter-American Foundation and the United States Institute of Peace — “that the President has determined are unnecessary.”
Days later, Democrats wrote a letter to Trump on February 24 laying out that only Congress has the authority to dissolve the African aid foundaiton.
“Eliminating this agency – or reducing its activities in an effort that would effectively eliminate it – would undermine U.S. leadership in the region and create a vacuum that adversarial powers would exploit to expand their influence, and undermine congressional intent,” the letter reads. “If your administration believes changes to the mission or funding levels of USADF are necessary, such proposals must be submitted to Congress for legislative consideration, as required by law.”
