More than 80% of programs run by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will be canceled following a six-week review, while the remainder will be run by the State Department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday.
Rubio, 53, announced the overhaul from his personal account on X, saying that 5,200 contracts that “spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States” had been voided.
Last month, the Trump administration claimed in court documents that 5,800 of 6,200 multiyear USAID contracts — more than 93% — were on their way out, along with 4,100 of 9,100 State Department grants for a total savings of $58.4 billion.
That filing suggested that Rubio, who was named acting head of USAID last month, had “made a final decision with respect to each award, on an individualized basis, affirmatively electing to either retain the award or terminate[.]”
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for a comment clarifying Rubio’s Monday statement and the claims in the court filing.
However, the Trump administration has been given a Monday deadline to comply with a federal court order to unfreeze about $2 billion worth of funding to various groups that had carried out contracted work with USAID.
Some of that frozen money had reportedly been factored into the Trump administration’s prior estimates.
Shortly after President Trump was sworn into office Jan. 20, “special White House employee” Elon Musk took aim at USAID, an independent agency established in 1961 with an annual budget of $40 billion in appropriations alone.
“In consultation with Congress, we intend for the remaining 18% of programs we are keeping (approximately 1,000) to now be administered more effectively under the State Department,” Rubio said Monday.
“Thank you to DOGE and our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform.”
Rubio’s announcement came after the New York Times reported that Rubio and Musk got into a heated argument during a cabinet meeting Thursday.
Musk had reportedly accused Rubio of not firing enough employees, while the secretary of state argued that the billionaire’s approach was too haphazard.
After that meeting, Trump, 78, announced that he was reining in Musk’s power and was giving cabinet secretaries and other high-ranking officials more sway over personnel decisions while denying the claim that the billionaire had argued with Rubio.
Rubio and Musk have since made public overtures, including on Sunday when the two men hit back at Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski’s suggestion that Warsaw may have to look for other internet providers if SpaceX proves unreliable after Musk crowed about his power to cripple Ukraine’s communications.
On Monday, Musk backed up Rubio in the USAID announcement, saying, “Tough, but necessary.”
“Good working with you,” he added to the Floridian. “The important parts of USAID should always have been with Dept of State.”
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