For months, Peter Marocco has been the steering force behind the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development. As the head of the State Department’s Office of Foreign Assistance — and then, as the deputy administrator of USAID — Marocco oversaw the gutting of thousands of awards and the firing of nearly all the agency’s 10,000 staff.
But now, Marocco has left the State Department — and it’s unclear exactly why.
“Pete was brought to State with a big mission — to conduct an exhaustive review of every dollar spent on foreign assistance. He conducted that historic task and exposed egregious abuses of taxpayer dollars,” a senior administration official at the State Department told Devex on Monday. “We all expect big things are in store for Pete on his next mission.”
About the author
Elissa Miolene
Elissa Miolene reports on USAID and the U.S. government at Devex. She previously covered education at The San Jose Mercury News, and has written for outlets like The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Washingtonian magazine, among others. Before shifting to journalism, Elissa led communications for humanitarian agencies in the United States, East Africa, and South Asia.
