Billionaire Elon Musk, who is leading US President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting initiative, has revealed plans to shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Speaking in a social media discussion on X (formerly Twitter), early Monday, Musk described the agency as “beyond repair,” adding that Trump supports its closure.
The conversation, which featured former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Senators Joni Ernst and Mike Lee, focused on the work of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—the cost-cutting panel Trump assigned Musk to lead.
USAID, the world’s largest single donor, disbursed $72 billion in 2023 for humanitarian aid, including women’s health services, clean water, HIV/AIDS treatments, and anti-corruption initiatives. The agency provided 42% of all humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations in 2024.
Trump has already ordered a freeze on most US foreign aid as part of his “America First” policy, a move that threatens critical global programs such as field hospitals in Thai refugee camps and landmine clearance in war zones. The agency’s website remained offline over the weekend, raising further speculation about its fate. USAID has a staff of more than 10,000 people.
Musk’s involvement in government operations has sparked controversy. Reuters reported that two top security officials at USAID were removed over the weekend after attempting to block Musk’s team from accessing restricted areas of the agency. Meanwhile, questions have emerged over Musk’s access to the Treasury system, first reported by the New York Times, that sends out more than $6 trillion per year in payments on behalf of federal agencies and contains the personal information of millions of Americans who receive Social Security payments, tax refunds and other monies from the government.
Democratic Senator Peter Welch has demanded answers, calling Musk’s role “a gross abuse of power”. He expressed concerns that Musk’s influence reflects “money buying power in the Trump White House.”
Musk claims the Trump administration can cut $1 trillion from the U.S. deficit next year, alleging that “professional foreign fraud rings” are siphoning vast sums by creating fake digital US citizens. However, he provided no evidence for these claims.
Trump, however, remains confident in Musk’s leadership. “He’s a big cost-cutter… Sometimes we won’t agree, but I think he’s doing a great job. He’s very smart, and he’s very much into cutting the budget,” the president said.
Since taking office 11 days ago, Trump has aggressively restructured the federal government, firing and sidelining hundreds of civil servants.
Musk, charged with running the US government human resources agency, has locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees, according to two agency officials.
Musk has moved swiftly to install allies at the agency known as the Office of Personnel Management. A team including current and former employees of Musk assumed command of OPM on Jan. 20, the day Trump took office.
As the administration pushes forward with its downsizing efforts, concerns over accountability and the impact of these drastic changes continue to grow, both domestically and internationally.
Melissa Enoch
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