President Donald Trump’s administration has formally notified Congress that Republican leaders are planning to reorganize the United States Organization for International Development (USAID) as they face constitutional challenges regarding the dismantling of institutions to date.
USAID was established under the law of Congress. However, on Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a notice that the Trump administration would fold the agency’s independent functions into the State Department, which is under enforcement control.
“We are reorienting foreign aid programs and working directly with what’s best suited to the US and its citizens,” Rubio said in a social media statement. “We continue to carry on essential lifesaving programs and have strategic investments to strengthen our country with our partners.”
But critics accusing the Trump administration of surpassing its executive body, seeking to undermine independent bodies that do not align with its priorities.
State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce addressed the issue at a news briefing later that day.
She said department officials have notified Congress of their intention to reorganize certain USAID functions into the department by July 1, 2025, and to discontinue any remaining USAID functions that do not align with administrative priorities.”
Bruce also denied that the demolition of USAID would affect the country’s ability to respond to international disasters such as the earthquake on Friday in Myanmar and Thailand.
“We are ready to move now, so we had no impact on our ability to carry out those duties, if they came in and when they asked for assistance,” she said.
USAID was established under Congressional authority through the Foreign Aid Act of 1961. However, he works under the Secretary of State.
Until the start of Trump’s second term as president, the agency was one of the world’s largest distributors of foreign aid, but its activities largely halted when the president carried out a freeze on foreign aid.
In 2023 alone, the US distributed around $72 billion in foreign aid. USAID was responsible for distributing about half of that total.
However, Rubio has since announced on social media that 83% of USAID contracts have been cancelled.
Further reductions in employees at USAID
Agency is also suffering from massive layoffs. This is a trend that continued on Friday.
US media has obtained internal memorandums to USAID employees and warned that all positions (saving what is needed by law) will be eliminated. State Department spokesman Bruce asked about the scope of these changes during the briefing.
“There will be some confusion with big changes,” she said. He added that the layoffs were not unexpected.
“We were waiting for this conclusion. We have arrived. We cannot talk about the number of people who will not become foreign service officers at this point. We cannot say whether it will become everyone or not.”
“It’s essentially a restructuring,” she continued. “Like the restructuring, there is inevitably a confusion from Secretary Rubio. We are committed to ensuring that USAID staff are safe and that the ongoing life-saving assistance program remains intact and operational.”
Bruce has laid off to the Trump administration’s campaign to eliminate allegations of “waste, fraud and abuse,” a project led by adviser and billionaire businessman Elon Musk.
Already in February, USAID had cut its workforce on a massive scale. Approximately 1,600 people were fired, and all but a handful of the remaining staff took leave, including staff stationed abroad.
The Washington, D.C. headquarters was also closed, giving workers a 15-minute time slot, entering the building and quickly collecting their belongings.
Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled that Musk and his Government Efficiency (DOGE) “probably violated the US Constitution in multiple ways” by dismantling the USAID.
Judge Theodore Chuan wrote that Musk and Doge “will determine whether, when, and how elected representatives in Parliament will rob Constitutional authority to close the institutions created by Parliament.”
With a temporary restraining order, Chuan ordered Doj and Musk to stop efforts to cut contracts with USAID staff. However, it is not clear whether the order applies to actions taken by the Secretary of State.
However, on Friday afternoon, the federal appeals court lifted Chuan’s injunction and allowed Doge to proceed with the cuts.
Musk previously boasted that he was involved in “supplying USAID to Wood Chipper.”