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A senior State Department official who masterminded the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has left his role after less than three months, a U.S. official said.
Pete Marocco had been serving as the State Department’s director of the Office of Foreign Assistance since January and as deputy administrator of USAID led the mission to shut the agency down. Previously responsible for distributing foreign aid to impoverished countries, USAID has seen 83 percent of its funding to overseas projects canceled since Trump’s inauguration in a move that has provoked widespread outrage.
“Pete was brought to State with a big mission to conduct an exhaustive review of every dollar spent on foreign assistance,” a senior administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “He conducted that historic task and exposed egregious abuses of taxpayer dollars. “We all expect big things are in store for Pete on his next mission.”
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Behind the scenes, Marocco is said to have clashed with Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the extent of the cuts being made, leading to tensions within the department.
The Wall Street Journal reports that it was not Marocco’s choice to leave and that he was informed about it during a White House meeting late last week at which he was asked to turn in his laptop and agency badge. Sources told Reuters that Marocco may have been pushed out, but declined to give further explanation.
As recently as Thursday, he held a “listening session” at the State Department with nearly two dozen experts to discuss the future of foreign assistance and seek input, according to a source familiar with the event.
His alleged clashes with Rubio reportedly centred around DOGE’s efforts to slash federal expenditure, with the former pushing for “deeper, far-reaching cuts” while the secretary sought to keep “as many life-saving initiatives as possible.”
A U.S. Marine Corps veteran with a master’s degree in international humanitarian law from the University of Oxford, Marocco also served in the first Trump administration in a number of roles, including at the State Department and USAID, as well as the Pentagon and the Commerce Department.
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Hawaii Democratic Senator Brian Schatz, the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, reacted to the development by claiming that Marocco had only succeeded in bringing chaos to the State Department.
Democratic Senator Brian Schatz, of Hawaii, said, “Marocco’s tenure brought chaos to USAID, reckless and unlawful policy to the State Department, and dismantled long-standing U.S. foreign policy.
“His actions deprived millions of people around the world of life-saving aid and jeopardized U.S. credibility with our partners. But with his exit, serious questions still remain about the influence he leaves behind,” Schatz said in a statement.
On Monday, the department is scheduled to deliver a reorganization plan to the Office of Management and Budget, explaining how it intends to fold what remains of USAID into its infrastructure.
“We are reorienting our foreign assistance programs to align directly with what is best for the United States and our citizens,” Rubio said in a statement announcing further cutbacks at USAID last month.
