USAID Website Goes Offline Amid Trump Admin’s Freeze on Foreign Aid

During his first day in office, Trump placed a 90-day freeze on all foreign aid. His executive order forced the furloughs or layoffs of thousands of employees and shut down thousands of programs worldwide.

Congressional Democrats have expressed concern that USAID may cease to act as an independent agency if Trump attaches it to the State Department. They say that USAID is vital to national security and argue that Trump lacks the legal authority to eliminate a congressionally funded independent agency.

However, Trump and congressional Republicans argue that much of the agency’s foreign aid and development programs are wasteful and have supported causes that advance left-leaning political agendas.

The concerns over the administration’s plans with USAID arose two weeks after it froze billions of dollars of U.S. security assistance and humanitarian development. The United States is the largest donor of humanitarian aid in the world.

President John F. Kennedy formed USAID to counter Soviet influence at the height of the Cold War. Currently, the agency is crucial to the U.S. efforts in curtailing China, which has robust foreign influence operations.

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Kennedy signed the Foreign Assistance Act in 1961 and then an executive order making USAID an independent agency.

Staff members from the agency monitored its fate in chat groups on Friday and Saturday, discussing updates on the status of flags and signs outside the USAID headquarters in Washington. As of Feb. 1, both were present outside the agency’s building.

“As developing countries will now ONLY be able to rely on China for help, they will cut more deals with Beijing to give them control of ports, critical mineral deposits, etc,” Murphy wrote. “U.S. power will shrink. U.S. jobs will be lost.”

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who Trump appointed to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, endorsed the dissolution of USAID.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has maintained several life-saving emergency programs during the freeze, but aid groups have argued confusion remains over which programs are still allowed to operate.

In his first public statement on the topic, Rubio said on Jan. 30 that USAID’s programs were under review to remove those that do not align with U.S. national interests. He did not say if the agency would be eliminated.

Shutting down some of these programs during the 90-day review resulted in the United States “getting a lot more cooperation” from aid recipients, Rubio said.

Democrats and Republicans are split on the agency, arguing whether the aid protects national security by stabilizing partner nations or if it’s a waste of money. Republicans have pushed for the State Department to have more control of USAID’s policies and funds, while Democrats have advocated for its autonomy.

During Trump’s first term, he tried to slash the budget for foreign operations by a third. After Congress pushed back, the administration used freezes and other efforts to stop the flow of congressionally appropriated funds for foreign programs.

Ultimately, Congress’s investigative arm, the General Accounting Office, ruled that Trump violated the Impoundment Act.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.