Over the last week, Musk railed against USAID as he sought to assert control over the agency.
On X, the social media platform that he owns, he called it “evil” and a “criminal organisation”. In a live stream on X early Monday, he told followers, “You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair. … We’re shutting it down.”
Staffers who work at the agency’s Washington DC headquarters were told to stay home on Monday. Hundreds of employees were also locked out of their email, according to an internal email obtained by the BBC.
An effort could be underway to bring the agency, which was established by an act of the US Congress, more directly under the control of Trump’s Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
Republican congressman Brian Mast, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told “Face the Nation” that USAID is “likely going to be rolled more closely under Secretary Rubio.”
Whether the agency is shut down or restructured, the changes sought by Musk and Trump would have far-reaching implications. USAID distributes billions in aid to non-governmental organisations, aid groups and nonprofits around the world.
With its website down, several key information reserves, including an international famine tracker and decades of aid records, appeared to be unavailable.
Top officials have been placed on leave or resigned in the last two days following clashes with Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), a team set up in consultation with the administration that Trump has given broad leeway to slash government spending.
It is not, however, an official government agency.
Members of Doge clashed with the security officials after requesting access to a highly secure area used for reviewing classified information, the Washington Post and CNN reported this weekend.
USAID director for security John Vorhees and deputy Director for Security Brian McGill, were both placed on administrative leave as a result, CBS reports.
A top political appointee, chief of staff Matt Hopson, also resigned, the Washington Post reported. BBC
