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After weeks of scrutiny by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the Trump administration has finalized its plans for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Marco Rubio, Trump’s Secretary of State and acting administrator of USAID, gave an extraordinary update in an announcement Monday morning on X.
“After a 6 week review we are officially cancelling 83% of the programs at USAID,” Rubio wrote.
“The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled 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,” he continued.
Rubio then revealed how USAID would operate moving forward. “In consultation with Congress, we intend for the remaining 18% of programs we are keeping (approximately 1000) to now be administered more effectively under the State Department.”
He thanked DOGE and State Department staff for working “very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform.”
Democrats have spent the last several weeks panicking over the Trump administration’s review of USAID, often ignoring the waste, fraud, and abuse discovered by DOGE. Their hysterics have continued even after learning that 76 percent of Americans approve of DOGE’s work and the reduction of wasteful government spending.
In February, the Trump administration put non-essential worldwide USAID staffers on leave. Others were fired or placed on administrative leave while a review was conducted. Around 1,600 jobs at the agency would be eliminated, according to a notification sent to employees.
DOGE’s transparent reporting on X about USAID has prompted Americans to demand defunding of the programs, while also putting lawmakers on the spot to act.
According to Breitbart, $72 billion in aid was disbursed worldwide in fiscal year 2023 that funded programs for so-called “gender-affirming care” in Guatemala, educating Kazakhstanis to defend themselves from Internet trolls, circumcisions in Mozambique, and various LGBTQI+ programs.
Rubio’s Monday announcement was met with a victorious response from supporters of the agency’s review. DOGE, namely Elon Musk, is working with members of Congress to turn the department’s findings into real savings for American taxpayers.
