WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has canceled more than 80 percent of programs run by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) following a six-week review, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday.
“The 5,200 contracts that are now canceled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, and in some cases even harmed, the core national interests of the United States,” Rubio wrote in a post on X, which he later pinned to his timeline.
Rubio said the remaining 1,000 programs would now be administered “more effectively” under the State Department, with oversight from Congress.
The sweeping cuts follow an executive order by President Donald Trump, who returned to office on Jan. 20 and immediately paused all foreign aid spending for 90 days to assess whether it aligned with his “America First” foreign policy.
The order led to widespread disruption at USAID, halting humanitarian relief efforts, delaying food and medical aid deliveries, and prompting mass layoffs among agency staff and contractors. While the administration said it had granted waivers for life-saving aid, humanitarian organizations reported that much of the funding remained frozen.
Thousands of USAID employees were placed on leave or dismissed, and most are not expected to be reinstated.
Rubio also praised the Department of Government Efficiency, a newly created office led by billionaire Elon Musk, for its role in reducing federal spending.
“Thank you to DOGE and our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform,” Rubio wrote.
Musk responded on X, saying, “Tough, but necessary. Good working with you. The important parts of USAID should always have been with Dept of State.”
His comments followed a report in The New York Times that he and Rubio had clashed during a Cabinet meeting Thursday, with Musk arguing that the State Department had not made deep enough staff cuts.
Trump reportedly intervened, telling his Cabinet members that they, not Musk, had final authority over staffing and policy decisions. The president later denied reports of tensions when questioned by reporters on Friday.
On Saturday, Trump, Musk, and Rubio dined together at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
