US Agency for International Development Shut Down by Trump and Musk

WASHINGTON — Employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development were told to work from home Monday after President Donald Trump shut down their Washington, D.C., headquarters over the weekend.

The Agency for International Development has been the main U.S. international humanitarian and development organization since President John F. Kennedy established it in 1961.

Trump plans to shut it down.

“At the direction of agency leadership, the USAID headquarters at the Ronald Reagan building in Washington, D.C., will be closed to agency personnel on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025,” said an email sent to the agency’s staff overnight.

The message did not explain what it meant when it said, “Further guidance will be forthcoming.”

Elon Musk explained it though.

Musk is a close advisor of Trump who the president appointed to lead the Department of Government Efficiency. The nongovernment department created by Trump is tasked with finding ways to drastically reduce government expenses.

In an hour-long audio announcement on his social media site X early Monday, Musk said that the Agency for International Development was “beyond repair” and “hopeless.”

He said he had “spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper.”

He mentioned discussions he had with Trump, saying, “With regard to the USAID stuff, I went over [it] with him in detail, and he agreed that we should shut it down. I actually checked with him a few times [and] said, ‘Are you sure?’”

Musk added that Trump answered, “Yes.”

Like other orders in the first days of his second administration, Trump has set off a dispute with lawmakers over whether the president has the authority he claims. In this case, it is to shut down an agency authorized by Congress.

The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee urged the agency’s employees to defy Trump’s order.

“Not a single person in the Executive Branch — not Donald Trump, not Elon Musk, and not any of their cronies — has the authority to shut down USAID. Congress created the agency by statute,” Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said in an X post. “We ask a lot of our civil servants. Today, we ask of them another task — show up to work. Continue to serve.”

On Saturday, the Agency for International Development’s security director was escorted out of the headquarters building by guards and put on administrative leave after he tried to block Department of Government Efficiency representatives from accessing the relief agency’s secure systems.

On Monday, Democratic lawmakers who tried to enter the agency’s offices were turned away by security guards. They held a press conference outside the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. 

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said it was “a corrupt abuse of power that is going on.”

“It’s not only a gift to our adversaries, but trying to shut down the Agency for International Development by executive order is plain illegal,” he said.

The Agency for International Development is an independent agency that operates with more than 600 employees in Washington, D.C., and more than 10,000 worldwide. It is the world’s largest provider of humanitarian aid.

In 2023, the agency distributed about $72 billion in assistance worldwide that it received from government and private funding sources. Last year, Congress appropriated about $44 billion for the agency’s annual budget, according to USAspending.gov.

The funds paid for clean water and energy projects, anti-corruption programs, women’s health in conflict zones and other programs in underdeveloped regions or places needing emergency relief.

Shutting down the Agency for International Development continues Trump’s freeze on all foreign aid as part of his “America First” policies.

He gave a hint that he might turn U.S. foreign relief efforts over to the State Department Monday when Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that he has been appointed as acting administrator of the Agency for International Development.

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