The Trump administration on Friday moved to formally collapse the U.S. Agency for International Development, notifying remaining employees that their positions will be eliminated and that residual functions will be folded into the State Department.
The decision to unilaterally shut down an agency established by Congress is expected to draw immediate legal challenges. The administration told Congress of its intention at noon, about 10 minutes before employees were notified, according to a White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal government communications.
“Unfortunately, USAID strayed from its original mission long ago,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “Thanks to President Trump, this misguided and fiscally irresponsible era is now over.”
The move is an escalation of President Donald Trump’s campaign against the agency responsible for administering foreign aid and development assistance around the globe. That function of the government is seen by some as core to American values but is one the president has described as a “tremendous fraud” and waste of taxpayer dollars. The change, news of which was delivered in an email to staff midday Friday, is also in line with his administration’s strategy of bulldozing through precedent to exact its vision — acting quickly to create changes that may be practically hard to reverse.
The State Department will administer USAID’s “remaining lifesaving and strategic aid programming,” Jeremy Lewin, the agency’s new chief operating officer, said in an email to staff. It was not immediately clear which programs would survive the planned collapse.
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