The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reported that he is acting administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He has now delegated authority to Pete Marocco, the State Departmentʼs director of foreign assistance and a possible participant in the Capitol storming.
NBC News and CNN write about this.
Pete Morocco held several national security positions during the first administration of the US President Donald Trump, including at USAID, where his attempts to consolidate power and cut funding forced officials to write a memorandum of disagreement that ultimately led to his dismissal.
One humanitarian agency official said Morocco “knows how the system works and is dismantling it at every turn” .It has already prepared a directive to freeze almost all foreign aid.
“USAID may relocate, reorganize, and integrate certain missions, bureaus, and offices into the Department of State, and the remainder of the Agency may be closed,” Marco Rubio wrote in a letter to lawmakers.
Morocco worked closely with Trump administration appointees at USAID during the first weeks of the president’s second term. Some USAID officials say Morocco “directed the agency’s staff reductions from afar”.
Marco Rubio, in a letter to lawmakers, informed them of Trumpʼs plans to reorganize USAID.
“USAID has many conflicting, overlapping functions that it shares with the U.S. Department of State. In addition, USAID’s systems and processes are not sufficiently synthesized, integrated, or coordinated and often lead to divergences in United States foreign policy and foreign relations. This undermines the President’s ability to conduct foreign relations,” he wrote.
And he added that the agency may integrate certain missions, bureaus, and offices into the State Department, and the rest will be closed.
President Donald Trump and his aides have called USAID, an independent agency created by Congress, overtly partisan. Democrats have rejected that claim and say Trump lacks the authority to dismantle the agency.
USAID was founded in 1961 under President John F. Kennedy. It provides billions of dollars each year to alleviate poverty, treat disease, and respond to famine and natural disasters. The agency also promotes democracy and development by supporting non-governmental organizations, independent media, and social initiatives.
The agency now employs more than 10 000 people, two-thirds of whom are abroad. USAID employees outside Washington have been ordered to stay away from offices and work from home.
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