Employees at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) were notified on Monday that their headquarters in downtown Washington would be closed for the day, following comments from billionaire Elon Musk.
Musk claimed that President Donald Trump agreed the agency should be shut down. This move came just hours after Trump’s January 20th order, freezing most US foreign aid as part of his “America First” policy, halting billions of dollars in lifesaving aid globally.
In the past week, chaos has engulfed USAID’s DC offices. Dozens of staff were placed on leave, while Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) attempted to access USAID documents, sparking a conflict between Musk’s team and career staff.
Musk, leading Trump’s initiative to cut government spending, has leveled harsh, unsupported accusations against USAID, raising concerns about whether this push to gut the agency and possibly transfer it to the State Department is motivated solely by cost-saving measures.
On Monday, Musk declared USAID “beyond repair,” with Trump agreeing the agency should be shut down. Trump previously labelled USAID as “run by a bunch of radical lunatics” and announced plans to remove its staff. “We’re getting them out, and then we’ll make a decision,” he added.
An internal email from USAID leadership informed staff that the headquarters at the Ronald Reagan building would be closed on February 3, 2025. The email did not specify if the closure would extend beyond that day, stating that further guidance would follow.
The dispute between DOGE staff and USAID has sparked outrage among Democrats, with a group of lawmakers planning to protest outside the headquarters at 1 p.m., denouncing the shutdown as “the Trump administration’s and Elon Musk’s illegal shutdown.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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