March 28 (UPI) — The State Department on Friday formally notified Congress of the closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development with the remaining operations and programs now run by the diplomatic agency.
Two weeks ago, a federal district judge said the shutdown would deprive Congress of its constitutional authority on whether to close an agency. President John F. Kennedy signed the legislation creating the agency in 1961.
President Donald Trump on Feb. 4 named Secretary of State Marco Rubio to serve as acting administrator of the organization, which initially had 5,200 employees. On Friday, Rubio said the remaining 900 employees will be terminated.
“Today, the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have notified Congress on their intent to undertake a reorganization that would involve realigning certain USAID functions to the Department by July 1, 2025, and discontinuing the remaining USAID functions that do not align with Administration priorities,” Rubio said in a statement.
On his first day back in the White House, President Donald Trump ordered a 90-day freeze of all U.S. foreign aid and a review of whether aid programs were aligned with his administration’s policy.
On March 10, Rubio terminated some 5,200 contracts. The remaining 18% of the programs were to be taken over by the State Department.
Some programs to be canceled provided for nutrition assistance for infants in developing countries and for treatments and prevention of diseases such as polio, malaria, tuberculosis, Ebola and HIV.
USAID distributed nearly $43.8 billion in aid in 2023. In all, the U.S. government disbursed $71.9 billion in foreign assistance, about 1.2% of the total budget according to ForeignAssistance.gov.
Jeremy Lewin, a Department of Government Efficiency employee, took over running the day-to-day operations at USAID from Pete Marocco on March 20.
In an email to staff Friday, he said terminations would go into effect on July 1 or Sept. 2. Although workers may be asked to work in some capacity, the email obtained by NPR said they were ordered to leave “the front office” by 1 p.m. Friday without a reason given.
“As you can imagine, there will be lots of work to responsibly migrate operations and responsibility to the State Department,” Lewin wrote in the email to staff.
He noted overseas staff “will be offered safe and fully compensated return travel.”
Lewin explained the process of some workers moving to the State Department will be provided in detail most likely in April or May.
There is a separate process “for hiring personnel into available roles at the State Department,” he wrote.
“In the next three months, we will work closely with the State Department to build their capacities to assume the responsible administration of USAID’s remaining life-saving and strategic aid programming.”
Rubio said he expects aid to be better handled.
“Foreign assistance done right can advance our national interests, protect our borders and strengthen our partnerships with key allies,” Rubio said. “Unfortunately, USAID strayed from its original mission long ago. As a result, the gains were too few and the costs were too high.”
He added: “Thanks to President Trump, this misguided and fiscally irresponsible era is now over. We are reorienting our foreign assistance programs to align directly with what is best for the United States and our citizens.
“We are continuing essential lifesaving programs and making strategic investments that strengthen our partners and our own country. This is yet another promise made and delivered to the American people.”
On March 18, a federal judge ruled that efforts by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to shut down USAID “likely violated the U.S. Constitution in multiple ways.”
U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang, who was appointed by Barack Obama, ordered DOGE to reinstate USAID employee and contractors’ access to email, payment and other electronic systems, according to the 68-page ruling.
“The court will require defendants, within 14 days, to secure and submit a written agreement among all necessary parties that ensures that USAID will be able to reoccupy USAID headquarters at its original location, in the event of a final ruling in favor of plaintiffs,” the ruling from Cuang, who served in Maryland, said.
On Feb. 14, District Court Judge Amir Ali, an appointee of President Joe Biden in the District of Columbia, ruled that almost $2 billion in unpaid fees for related humanitarian work must be paid out despite a freeze on foreign aid.
The order was paused on Feb. 26 by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, but the full court by a 5-4 vote March 5 denied the Trump administration’s request to block the order.
