Musk and Trump move to dismantle USAID

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USAID—an independent government organization that provides life-saving foreign aid to other countries—is holding on by a thread after Elon Musk and President Donald Trump agreed to shut it down. However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who stepped in as the agency’s acting administrator yesterday, suggested he’d work with Congress to overhaul USAID instead of shuttering it completely. USAID, in a nutshell, managed roughly $40 billion in fiscal year 2023, less than 1% of the federal budget. It’s been around since 1961, and a large portion of its funding goes to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine and health initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa, including programs that distribute life-saving HIV treatments. But now that aid’s future, and that of USAID’s 10,000 employees and numerous international contractors are in doubt. Through the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk forced a leadership change and shut staffers out of the agency’s office while railing against USAID on social media. Yesterday afternoon, over 100 USAID employees protested outside of its headquarters in Washington and were joined by Democratic lawmakers. Zoom out: Musk’s aggressive moves to shutter the agency—something experts say requires an act of Congress—have raised questions about the power the world’s richest man has been handed by Trump to overhaul the federal workforce.—CC