The State Department announced that it is reorganizing what remains of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
“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 said in a statement.
“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,” he said. “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.”
USAID and the State Department have notified Congress of their intent to reorganize the agency by July 1.
Rubio announced earlier this month that 83% of USAID contracts were to be canceled. “After a 6 week review we are officially cancelling 83% of the programs at USAID,” he wrote on X. “The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled 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.”
“In consultation with Congress, we intend for the remaining 18% of programs we are keeping (approximately 1000) to now be administered more effectively under the State Department,” he explained, going on to thank the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the “hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform.”
