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Donald Trump’s administration is moving to formally shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, and has notified the remaining employees that their positions could soon be eliminated.
After weeks of bashing the foreign aid agency, attempting to freeze its funding and initiating mass layoffs, the administration notified Congress around noon Friday that it intends to move all of the agency’s remaining responsibilities, effectively shutting it down. The remaining functions would be transferred to the Department of State.
“Foreign assistance done right can advance our national interests, protect our borders, and strengthen our partnerships with key allies,” Secretary of State Marc Rubio said in a statement. “Unfortunately, USAID strayed from its original mission long ago. As a result, the gains were too few and the costs were too high.”
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Later that afternoon, a federal appeals court cleared the way for Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency team to resume their efforts to gut the agency.
The Washington, D.C. appeals court blocked a lower-court ruling, which had stopped Musk and DOGE from “any work” as it “likely violated the Constitution in multiple ways.”
But a three-judge appellate panel argued that the government is likely to show that DOGE’s involvement doesn’t violate the Constitution because most of the cuts at USAID were approved by administration officials.
Beginning July 1, the State Department will be responsible for administering what’s left of USAID’s programs, though it remains unclear which ones. Any of the agency’s functions “that do not align with Administration priorities” would be discontinued, according to Rubio.
USAID cannot be dissolved without congressional approval, teeing up yet another battle between the Trump administration and the judiciary as he faces an avalanche of lawsuits alleging unconstitutional and illegal maneuvers.
Earlier this month, a federal judge determined that his administration likely violated the Constitution’s appointments clause and the separation of powers by effectively granting Musk unprecedented authority even though he holds no official role, without Senate confirmation or appointment to an existing office, to be able to make such sweeping decisions.
Since taking office, the president and his allies have accused USAID of improperly spending taxpayer dollars on unnecessary programs overseas. But they have consistently misrepresented those projects.
The agency is one of the largest aid agencies in the world and has provided essential humanitarian relief in dozens of life-saving missions in more than 100 countries. Musk, meanwhile, has said he wants the agency to be fed into a “wood chipper.”
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A USAID official who received a termination notice told The Washington Post that the administration’s latest attempt to close the agency is “now stating openly what they have been doing overtly for the past two months: shutting down an agency statutorily established by Congress and usurping the legislative branch’s authority as the only ones who can shut it down.”
Democrats and foreign aid advocates have criticized the administration for trying to use executive authority to dismantle the independent federal agency.
Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called the administration’s decision a “reckless assault on U.S. foreign assistance” and a violation of law.
“The consequences of this reckless decision are already evident; China and Russia are already filling in the gaps created by this administration’s reckless assault on U.S. foreign assistance,” Meeks said in a statement.
“While the administration claims it will retain some global health and humanitarian assistance functions, it is jettisoning critical work USAID has been doing — at Congress’ direction — for decades in sectors such as education, good governance, crisis stabilization, agriculture, and economic growth,” he added.
“Furthermore, these plans violate the law, which requires that USAID exist as a separate entity,” said Meeks. “Presidents are not kings, and if the administration wishes to change the law, the GOP, which controls both the House and Senate, should pass one.”
