US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the Trump administration is reducing 83 percent of US Agency for International Development (USAID) programs. The remaining 1,000 USAID programs that have not been cut will be administered by the State Department.
Rubio said in an X post, “After a 6-week review we are officially cancelling 83% of the programs at USAID,” adding, “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.”
Marco Rubio thanked Elon Musk’s DOGE for USAID cuts
“Thank you to DOGE and our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform,” Rubio continued in his post. Elon Musk quickly responded to Secretary Rubio’s statement, saying the cuts were “tough but necessary”, and adding, “Good working with you. The important parts of USAID should always have been with the Department of State.”
In a court filing late last month, the Trump administration said it had cut nearly 5,800 USAID programs.
The filing says that Secretary Marco Rubio “made a final decision with respect to each award, on an individualized basis, affirmatively electing to either retain the award or terminate it pursuant to the terms of the instrument or independent legal authority as inconsistent with the national interests and foreign policy of the United States.”
Major news outlets have reported that some of the programs that have been cut were deemed “lifesavers” for foreign nations. Some also granted humanitarian benefits to populations in need all over the world.
The State Department says it aims to make USAID as efficient as possible
Since gaining office, the Trump administration has alleged that USAID was being misused, with some even claiming the programs were used to commit fraud. Since then, the administration, through DOGE and the State Department, has aimed to make the agency as efficient as possible.
At the beginning of February, Marco Rubio told Congress that he was the acting administrator of USAID and had ordered a deputy, Pete Marocco, “to begin the process of engaging in a review and potential reorganization of USAID’s activities to maximize efficiency and align operations with the national interest.”
In a letter he wrote to Capitol Hill at the time, Secretary Rubio said, “USAID may move, reorganize, and integrate certain missions, bureaus, and offices into the Department of State, and the remainder of the Agency may be abolished consistent with applicable law.”