Expand stepped up its efforts to put pressure on the organization about a year after many senior USAID staff members were placed on leave for violating President Donald Trump’s executive order to halt all international support.
In a life X Spaces program early on Monday, Musk said,” It became clear that it’s not an apple with a worm in it.” What we have is nothing more than a game of insects. You must generally get rid of the entire situation. It’s beyond fix”.
After Musk claimed Trump gave him the natural light to overhaul the organization, it appears to be one of the first significant reductions Expand will make to federal spending. The independent body oversaw the distribution of$ 38 billion in 2023.
” It’s been run by a bunch of extreme lunatics. And we’re getting them out”, Trump told reporters after returning from a trip in Palm Beach, Florida.
USAID’s social media accounts were shut down on Saturday, and its website was moved, in a reduced power, to look under the State Department’s site. According to lawmakers, moving the page is the first step in bringing the organization under the State Department’s purview and gradually suffocating it.
An email sent to USAID people early on Monday night warned them that the organization’s main office may be shut down.
With the exception of staff with crucial on-site and building maintenance tasks who are contacted by senior leadership,” Agency staff normally assigned to work at USAID office will work remotely,” according to the internet.  ,
The internet comes as 600 workers reported being locked out of USAID’s computer systems immediately. On Sunday, USAID’s X and Instagram records were both taken online, and its webpage has been over since Saturday. But, it’s not clear if the site was offline as a result of a Trump administration mandate or a result of technical issues.  ,
Two USAID protection personnel, John Vorhees and Brian McGill, were also on leave on Sunday after refusing to award DOGE employees access to a vulnerable easier info facility where sensitive information is reviewed. Because they did not have the necessary security clearance, the security officers were operating within the rules by denying the DOGE officers access to the documents. Eventually, DOGE individuals were given access to the documents.
Katie Miller, a spokesperson for DOGE, said on X that” no defined stuff was accessed without proper safety approvals”.
The majority of USAID’s Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs workers took a leave of absence on Saturday, following a selection made a week prior. According to an email sent by acting USAID executive Jason Gray, he identified some activities within USAID that appear to be “designed to avoid the President’s Executive Order and the mission from the National folks.”
As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we work through these actions, according to a copy of the Politico email.  ,
With a$ 22.6 billion budget, USAID, the biggest provider of food aid in the world, was forced to freeze its funds by Trump through an executive order.
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Members of Congress have long been critical of Trump and Musk’s actions in relation to USAID, claiming that any change would be unlawful without the approval of Congress. In a letter signed by 10 Democratic senators to Secretary of State, Marco Rubio addressed him.
” Any effort to merge or fold USAID into the Department of State should be, and by law must be, previewed, discussed, and approved by Congress. Additionally, the letter stated that any attempt to reorganize or redesign USAID requires prior consultation with and notification to Congress.
