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By Gabe Whisnant and Sonam Sheth
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The Trump administration informed Congress on Friday that it plans to eliminate nearly all the remaining positions at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The move will effectively shutter the foreign aid agency and end over six decades of humanitarian and development work.
The Context
USAID has been a key target of the Trump administration and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency since President Donald Trump first took office.
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The agency was also the subject of multiple lawsuits alleging that Musk's DOGE and the Trump administration's efforts to shut it down were illegal and unconstitutional.
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What To Know
According to an internal memo, USAID staff were notified that all roles not mandated by law will be phased out in July and September.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, ordered the administration to unfreeze $2 billion in foreign aid.
The aid was blocked after Trump signed an executive action his first day in office ordering the funding freeze while his administration scoured U.S. spending for what Trump and his allies characterize as "waste, fraud and abuse."
A lower court judge subsequently ordered the administration to unblock the aid in response to a lawsuit filed by nonprofit organizations in connection to the Trump administration's freezing of foreign assistance through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department.
In a 5-4 ruling earlier this montn, Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts joined Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson and left in place the ruling by U.S. District Judge Amir Ali.
What People Are Saying
Democratic Representative Gerry Connolly and Senator Tim Kaine said in a joint statement: "Let us be clear—eliminating USAID is illegal and completely out of the bounds of Trump's authority. If he wants to dismantle or fold USAID into another agency and fire all USAID personnel, he must come to Congress, not Elon Musk."
Jeremy Konyndyk, who served as the executive director of USAID's COVID-19 task force, wrote on X: "A massive & deadly earthquake hit Myanmar today. Meanwhile [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio and Elon are firing - today! - the last remnants of the team that would have mobilized a USAID disaster response. A total abdication of decades of US leadership in the world."
What Happens Next
The U.S. Appeals Court for the 4th Circuit cleared the way for Musk's DOGE to keep operating within USAID, staying a lower court's ruling barring DOGE's activities.
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