Billionaire Elon Musk says that he and President Donald Trump are trying to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, with staffers told to stay home on Monday. Some Democrats are promising to “shine a light” on Musk’s apparent takeover and attempted dismantling of the agency, with at least one lawmaker vowing to halt all proceedings in the Senate over what critics say is a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution and the separation of powers.
In a late-night Sunday appearance on his social media platform, X, Musk said that he and his aides were in the process of “shutting down USAID,” later saying that he had the “full support of the president” in the action. On Sunday, Musk said “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die.”
“It became apparent that it’s not an apple with a worm in it,” Musk said on X Spaces. “What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair.”
The effort appears to have woken up some Democrats on Capitol Hill. Staff for Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., said that that the lawmaker will be going with colleagues to USAID’s physical offices Monday afternoon in order to “shine a light on what is happening there.” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, also said that he would put a “blanket hold” on the confirmation of all of Trump’s nominees for the State Department until the administration ends its Musk-led attack on the agency, the Wall Street Journal reported.
According to the Associated Press, more than 600 staffers at the agency were locked out of their computer systems overnight and those who continued to have access received an email instructing them that the agency would be closed on Monday “at the direction of Agency leadership.”
Over the weekend, the Trump administration placed two of the security chiefs at the agency on administrative leave after they refused to turn over classified documents to members of Musk’s team at the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
On Saturday, the agency’s website disappeared as well, and on Sunday, when asked about the developments by reporters, Trump said “It’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics. And we’re getting them out.”
Musk was himself short on details, instead sharing conspiratorial claims from right-wing influences, including allegations that the agency is “funding the pro-Hamas protests in campuses” via the Rockefeller Institute. The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, which is distinct from the Rockefeller Institute but appears to be what the post is referencing, has debunked such claims.
In reality, USAID is involved in projects like Hurricane relief in the Caribbean, investing in technologies to help reduce maternal mortality and providing food aid in countries such as South Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria.
Musk’s seizure of USAID comes a week after Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid, sewing chaos within the agency and members of the State Department.
USAID has been administering foreign aid for the federal government since it was created under President John Kennedy after Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. In 2023, the agency had a budget of around $40 billion, accounting for a small sliver of the federal government’s total discretionary spending of $1.7 trillion for that fiscal year. Despite accounting for such a small proportion of the federal government’s budget, the agency has often been maligned by conservatives, like Musk and Trump, who have promoted the myth that foreign aid accounts for a significant amount of federal spending.
According to the Congressional Research Service, USAID employs some 10,000 people with two-thirds of them serving abroad, and maintains 60 country and regional missions, each project aimed at meeting specific development objectives. The agency allocates federal funds among development partners like nonprofits, contractors, universities and international organizations. Much of the aid is directed towards providing food, shelter and health care in a given county or region.
The pausing of all foreign assistance is one of many executive orders Trump has issued challenging the legislated restrictions of the president’s power to refuse to spend funds allocated by Congress, a power known as “impoundment.”
While impoundment is regulated by the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and the Supreme Court has found, in the 1975 case Train v. City of New York, that the president requires Congress’s approval to impound funds, Trump and his allies have insisted that the president enjoys broad powers of impoundment. As Salon reported, Trump’s current strategy appears aimed at getting the issue before his allies on the Supreme Court.
House Appropriations Committee Democrats have said that Trump’s use of impoundment is unlawful and, in response to the ongoing Musk takeover of USAID, Democratic senators sent a letter saying that any attempt to reorganize USAID, including folding it into the State Department must first be approved by Congress. They also questioned Musk and his assistants’ access to classified materials.
“While some of the individuals purported to have security clearances, it is unclear whether those who accessed secure classified facilities had proper clearance or what they were seeking to access. We understand that the security guards present at the facility were threatened when they raised questions,” Senate Democrats wrote.
Read more
about Musk’s agenda
