Secretary of State Marco Rubio is taking charge of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), an organization that has long overseen humanitarian and development aid worldwide, as the Trump administration moves to assert greater control over foreign aid spending, following internal resistance from within the agency.
Speaking to reporters while traveling in El Salvador, Rubio confirmed he has been named acting director of USAID. With Rubio at the helm, big changes could be on the horizon.
“The issue, as I said, is, ‘Yeah, there are things that USAID that we do through USAID that we should continue to do and we will continue to do,’ but everything they do has to be in alignment with the national interest in the foreign policy of the United States,” Rubio said. “And the attitude that USAID has adopted over the years is, ‘no, we are independent of the national interest. We fund programs irrespective of whether it's aligned or not aligned with the foreign policy.’ That's ridiculous.”
Democrats and former diplomats are sounding the alarm over efforts to rein in USAID, claiming the agency delivers lifesaving aid and bolsters America’s global standing. However, the Trump administration notes that USAID has operated with little oversight for far too long and that aid often goes against U.S. interests.
“These are taxpayer dollars,” Rubio continued. “Every penny that we spend in foreign aid needs to be in furtherance and aligned with the national interest and the foreign policy of the United States. So this is not about ending the programs that USAID does per se. There are things that it does that are good, and there are things that it does that we have strong questions about. It's about the way it operates as an entity. And they're supposed to take direction from the State Department, policy direction, they do not.”
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“Not only do they not take policy direction; they're completely uncooperative," he added. "When you ask questions, when you try to go in and find out, ‘Okay, what does this program do?’ ‘Who's getting the money?’ ‘Why was this funded?’ ‘Why are we doing this?’ ‘Why aren't you coordinating with the embassy or the State Department?’ Their attitude is ‘We don't have to answer to you because we are independent. We answer to no one.’ Well, that's not true.”
“The attitude that USAID has adopted over the years is ‘no, we are independent of the national interests, we fund programs irrespective of whether it is aligned or not aligned with the foreign policy,” says @SecRubio.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 3, 2025
“That’s ridiculous — these are taxpayer dollars.” pic.twitter.com/q0HIUiZeO5
A report from The Hill notes that it remains uncertain whether the move will face legal challenges.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) late last week said any effort to dissolve USAID would be “illegal and against our national interests.”
President Trump told reporters on Sunday that USAID had been run “by radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out, and then we’ll make a decision.” The president previously signed an executive order freezing foreign assistance.
USAID’s website has recently gone offline, and hundreds of contractors have been laid off as uncertainty looms over the agency’s future. I can't wait to see what happens next.
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