USAID hasn’t yet merged with the U.S. State Department — a move that for days, many have been bracing for. But it seems President Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk, and those in their inner orbit have dismantled USAID without even formally needing to.
“We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper,” tweeted Musk, who heads the Department for Government Efficiency, or DOGE, on Monday.
Also on Monday, USAID was instructed to shut down its headquarters in Washington, D.C., telling employees to work from home — and despite calls from a dozen Democratic lawmakers Monday afternoon asking to speak with whoever was in charge, the members of Congress were declined a meeting when arriving at USAID, and told to speak with the State Department instead.
About the author
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
