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The future of the main American agency for foreign aid is in doubt after its registered office was unexpected on Monday, with members of staff ordered to work at home after President Donald Trump said he had been led by “radical crazy”.
Humanitarian workers, diplomats and legislators have tried to give meaning to a series of disturbing incidents at the American agency for international development. Its website is down, some officials have lost access to emails and have been on leave, and there are suggestions that it will be absorbed by the State Department.
An e-mail to the staff, seen by the Financial Times, said that the headquarters of USAID in Washington DC would be closed to staff on Monday “in the management of the agency’s management”, with the staff responsible for working to work distance. “Other advice will be coming,” said the email.
Trump told journalists on Sunday evening that USAID had been “managed by a heap of radical crazy people, and that we make them go out. . . And then we will make a decision ”.
Elon Musk, whose “government ministry of efficiency” was involved in measures against USAID, said that he had the support of President Donald Trump to close the agency.
“None of this could be done without the president’s full support,” said Musk during an audio conversation early Monday morning on X. “Regarding things from the Usaid, I went with him Detail and he agreed that we should close it is low.
Trump made Musk’s Doge responsible for cutting what the two men say they are unnecessary American public spending. The email to the USAID staff came from Gavin Kliger, who, according to several media reports, is an engineer in the Musk DOGE team. Kliger did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
“President Trump spent two weeks harassing and dismissing USAID employees, and now his team is completely trying to empty the agency,” said Democratic Senator Chris Coons on X.
USAID is an independent agency with around 10,000 employees worldwide who is responsible for administering FFOreign help and development programs. Former President Joe Biden had raised the USAID administrator to the National Security Council. Trump did not appoint a new USAID administrator.
The State Department did not respond to repeated requests for comments on changes to the agency. The USAID administrator works under the authority of the Secretary of State Marco Rubio but has his own budget. USAID did not respond to the requests for repeated comments.
Trump and his team clearly indicated that they wanted the American foreign aid aligning their “America First” platform. The absorption of the USAID in the State Department could mean less money available for longtime American development and help programs. This would reduce American spending, but could also harm humanitarian efforts worldwide and allow China to fill the void.
Brian Mast, republican president of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, said the CBS Face the nation USAID “was likely to be more closely rolled under Secretary Rubio” on Sunday.
“I would be absolutely intended, if it is the path we take, by withdrawing USAID as a separate department and by falling. . . Other parts of the United States. . . Due to its failure.
According to a person who knows the question.
CNN first pointed out the shock. Dozens of other USAID career officials have also been put on leave since last week, some accused of having tried to thwart Trump’s instructions for the agency.
Trump has already Billions of frozen dollars in foreign aid. The immediate break of all foreign aid projects has caused crises in humanitarian organizations and development involved in everything, from vital medical activities to anti-narcotic efforts to clean water programs.
Hundreds have been dismissed or contained and other cuts are expected in the coming weeks. Last week, the State Department created an exemption for vital humanitarian assistance.
Current and former officials said that the potential absorption of USAID in the State Department could be a test case for the Trump administration because it seeks to exercise executive power.
“This administration seems to test what they can get away with it in terms of action unilaterally to reshape the functions and imprint of the American government in a way that the Congress has not authorized, the Congress has not Not appropriate and the congress was in fact the prohibitions to do in certain laws, “said Tess Bridgeman, who worked at the Office of Legal Councilors of the State Department and the National Security Council during the Obama administration.
