Trump Dismantles USAID — Agency Closed and Functions Absorbed into State Department

The Trump administration begins dismantling the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the primary US foreign aid agency, closing its Washington headquarters and directing employees to work remotely effective February 7. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is named acting administrator. Nearly all direct-hire USAID staff are placed on administrative leave worldwide, with exceptions for mission-critical personnel. Thousands of foreign aid programs are frozen or canceled. Elon Musk declares on a livestream that USAID 'can't be fixed' and Trump supports closing it entirely. USAID Inspector General Paul K. Martin issues a report documenting the devastating impact of the aid freeze — including the blocking of $489 million in food aid — and is fired the next day. On February 13, a federal judge temporarily blocks the administration from placing 2,200 USAID employees on administrative leave. The dismantling is the most dramatic restructuring of US foreign aid since the Marshall Plan, eliminating an agency that managed $40 billion annually in humanitarian and development assistance.