Politics

NEW: State Department Officially Moves To Shutter Controversial Government Program

Published

4 days ago

March 29, 2025

The State Department formally announced Friday that it is closing the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) after the Trump Administration emerged victorious in a federal court case that sought to neuter the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cost-cutting initiative.

“Foreign assistance done right can advance our national interests, protect our borders, and strengthen our partnerships with key allies. Unfortunately, USAID strayed from its original mission long ago. As a result, the gains were too few and the costs were too high,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in a statement.

USAID has been undergoing a dramatic transformation following intervention by DOGE. Several high-ranking officials, including the agency’s security director, have been placed on administrative leave, and the agency’s website has been taken offline. Programs focused on democracy-building and free speech initiatives have been significantly scaled back or put on hold.

The White House has released multiple lists of some of the more eye-popping spending and influence projects USAID has been involved in over the preceding decades. “For decades, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been unaccountable to taxpayers as it funnels massive sums of money to the ridiculous — and, in many cases, malicious — pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight,” the White House announced last month.

According to a list released by the White House, USAID allocated millions of dollars for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs that were launched under the Biden Administration. Topping the list was a $1.5 million program designed to “advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities” and a $70,000 program for a “DEI musical” in Ireland.

DOGE also flagged multi-billion-dollar programs aimed at promoting LGBT ideology around the globe. Some examples included $47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Colombia, $32,000 for a “transgender comic book” in Peru and $2 million for sex changes and “LGBT activism” in Guatemala.

On Friday, ex-DOGE official Jeremy Lewin announced USAID’s shuttering in an internal memo, stating that the State Department “intends to assume responsibility for many” of the agency’s functions and programs, according to a report from ABC News.

“Thanks to President Trump, this misguided and fiscally irresponsible era is now over. We are reorienting our foreign assistance programs to align directly with what is best for the United States and our citizens,” Secretary Rubio added in his official statement

“We are continuing essential lifesaving programs and making strategic investments that strengthen our partners and our own country. This is yet another promise made and delivered to the American people.”

Members of Congress were also informed of the decision to cease USAID operations within the State Department by July 1. They were further notified that the administration will be “discontinuing the remaining” agency functions “that do not align with Administration priorities.”

With an annual budget of roughly $40 billion, USAID was designed to promote food and health stability around the globe but has long been criticized by the GOP for acting as a vehicle for left-wing social ideologies and programs. A move to shutter the agency had been in the works since President Trump took office, though the administration formally got the go-ahead to move forward following a federal appeals court decision earlier Friday by a three-judge panel on the Richmond, Virginia-based Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals.

Circuit Judges Paul Niemeyer, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush, and Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr., an appointee of President Trump during his first term, rejected a request to halt Musk’s termination of employees and contracts brought by 26 current and former USAID employees.