Last week, hundreds of internal contractors who worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) were pressed on unpaid license, and some were fired after President Donald Trump imposed a radical freezing on foreign aid of the United States worldwide.
But for billionaire Elon Musk, temporarily freezing USAID funds is not enough.
“Time for him to die,” Musk wrote on his social media platform X on Monday while he described USID a “criminal organization.”
“It is beyond repair,” Musk said in a separate publication, added that Trump agrees that he should close.
Musk’s comments, who Trump designated to lead the new government efficiency department (Doge), caused a growing debate about the future of the aid agency.
Here is a look at what the agency is and its role worldwide:
What is happening?
USAID, whose website disappeared on Saturday without explanation, has been one of the federal agencies most attacked by the Trump administration in intensive repression against the federal bureaucracy and many of its programs.
“It has been directed by a lot of radical lunatics, and we are taking them out,” Trump told reporters about USAID on Sunday night.
Musk’s call to Shutter USAID occurred after security officials denied the members of their cost reduction work group to the restricted areas of the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC.
Citing unidentified officials, multiple US media reported that USAID Security Director John Voorhees, and his deputy, Brian McGill, were licensed after denying Doge personnel entry to ensure areas on his fault of security authorizations.
Doge representatives, which was created in an executive order by Trump, but is not a government department, they could finally access areas with classified information after confrontation, which CNN first reported.
The White House denied that Dogs staff tried to access restricted areas, but Katie Miller, which serves in Doge, seemed to recognize the attempt to enter the working group, writing in X that “no classified material was accessed without the authorizations without authorizations adequate security. “
Abolir USAID and all foreign aid.
– Rand Paul (@randpaul) February 1, 2025
What was the reaction to Musk’s call to close Usaid?
After Musk’s criticism, the members of the Congress went to social networks to discuss whether USAID could and should be permanently closed.
“Trump has been purging and intimidating USAID employees. Now there is a rumor that he will dissolve USAID as an independent agency, “said Chuck Schumer, leader of the Democratic Party in the Senate controlled by Republicans, in X.” This would be illegal and against our national interests. “
Republican senator Rand Paul responded to Schumer and said: “Abolir to USAID and all foreign aid.”
Democratic senator Chris Coans also intervened in X, saying that eliminating the agency would make the United States “less safe.”
“President Trump spent two weeks harassing and dismissing USAID employees, and now his team is trying to gut the agency completely,” he said on Sunday. “These are patriotic Americans who promote our leadership worldwide.”
President Trump spent two weeks harassing and dismissing USAID employees, and now his team is trying to gut the agency completely. These are patriotic Americans who promote our leadership worldwide.
They make us safer. Trump makes us less safe.– Senator Chris Coans (@chriscoons) February 2, 2025
What is Usaid and when did it start?
In an effort led by then President John F Kennedy, Usaid was established as part of the 1961 foreign assistance law. He brought important changes to the US programs by combining several organizations and programs existing in one, according to a version USAID file. website.
“Until then, there had never been a single agency accused of foreign economic development,” according to the website.
According to the Official Website of the US Government, Usaid is the “main agency of the United States to extend assistance to countries that recover from disaster, trying to escape poverty and participate in democratic reforms”.
Andrew Natsios, a former USAID administrator, wrote in 2020 that the agency contributed to the success of the United States during the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
“I would argue that USAID’s best success stories during the Cold War in which they connected directly to the national interests of the United States,” he said. “These successes certainly benefited the United States, but also benefited developing countries as they made the transition to become advanced developed countries.”
“While there have certainly been political aid failures, there have been many more successes.”
Before freezing, the agency was the world’s largest individual donor. In fiscal year 2023, the United States disbursed $ 72 billion of assistance worldwide, from the health of women in conflict areas to access to clean water, HIV/AIDS treatments, energy safety and anti -corruption.
USAID provided 42 percent of all humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations in 2024 and has a staff of more than 10,000 people.
What countries have received more help?
In 2023, Ukraine received the majority – $ 14.4 billion of USAID.
The second highest receiver, Jordan, received $ 770 million in financial aid through USAID. Yemen and Afghanistan received $ 359.9 million and $ 332 million, respectively.
USAID is not the only American agency that disburse foreign aid, but is the largest with a kitten of $ 42.45 billion, followed by the State Department ($ 19 billion).
What criticisms has Usaid received over the years?
Criticisms of the agency have varied from their foreign policy agenda until its inefficiency.
In 2014, Usaid was accused of secretly creating a “Cuban Twitter” called Zunzune to awaken the disturbances and undermine the Cuban government. He was also criticized for his clandestine nature. USAID denied that the project was designed to create dissent.
In 2023, the president of Mexico asked his American counterpart, Joe Biden, who prevents Usaid .
The then President Andrés Manuel López Obrador did not specify which Mexican groups should stop funds, but in the past he accused several means of being part of a conservative movement against his government.
“The United States government, specifically through USAID, has financed for some time organizations against the legal and legitimate government that I represent,” he said in the letter. “This is clearly an interventionist act, contrary to international law and the relations that must prevail between free and sovereign states.”
While the United States has long promoted its foreign aid programs as directed, in part, strengthening young democracies, Usaid used to support authoritarian authoritarian regimes during the Cold War, including Taiwan and South Korea when they were under the government military and the democratic republic of El Congo under Mobutu Sese Seko.
More recently, a performance audit commissioned by the Usaid Inspector General Office and carried out by the Independent Public Accounting Firm of Williams, Adley & Company highlighted the inefficiency and bureaucratic challenges faced by the agency regarding the cost rates indirect. These fees refer to general expenses or administrative costs that an organization can charge a federal subsidy or contract.
“Indirect costs are a legitimate cost of doing business only to the extent that they are reasonable, allowed and assignable,” according to 2024 findings on the USAID website.
The audit found that USAID systems needed an improvement and pointed out that it has no adequate monitoring processes connected to indirect costs.
“USAID does not have the appropriate documentation to support indirect costs,” he said.
What happens later?
For now, Trump has not made any official announcement that Usaid will be closed.
However, many fear that the cessation of US funds can damage Washington’s allies, and create a void that their enemies could try to fill with pleasure.
Eastern Europe, for example, has been a geopolitical battlefield for a long time where the interests of Western foreign policy often collide with those of Moscow or Beijing.
The influence of China in Latin America and Sub -Saharan Africa has been growing, and has become an increasingly important commercial and investor partner in recent years, while the United States reduces aid.
In October, the Chinese Development Bank (CDB) announced that it had provided around $ 160 billion to help finance hundreds of projects throughout Latin America. Sub -Saharan Africa received the greatest help from the United States in 2023, but China is increasing its presence there by providing competitive assistance.
Senator Coons said that the possible USAID closure creates even more space for China to expand its power.
“It weakens American leadership and leaves the world more open to Chinese influence. It would be a massive mistake, ”Coons said Saturday in X.
