EXCLUSIVE: State Department Divide Breaks Open Between Establishment, MAGA Loyalists Over USAID Cuts

EXCLUSIVE: State Department Divide Breaks Open Between Establishment, MAGA Loyalists Over USAID Cuts

DOGE official snags lead role at USAID as left scrambles to shield wasteful agency



Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated authority over the United States Agency for International Development to a Department of Government Efficiency senior official, according to an email obtained by the Associated Press.

The Tuesday email from USAID Deputy Director Pete Marocco to State Department staff revealed that he would be replaced by Jeremy Lewin of the DOGE and Kenneth Jackson, a State Department official tapped as the acting president of the U.S. Institute of Peace, the New York Times reported.

'USAID is under control, accountable and stable.'

Marocco noted that the new appointment would be "effective immediately."

"It's been my honor to assist Secretary Rubio in his leadership of USAID through some difficult stages to pivot this enterprise away from its abuses of the past," Marocco wrote. "Now that USAID is under control, accountable and stable, I am going to return to my post as the Director of Foreign Assistance to bring value back to the American people."

Tammy Bruce, a State Department spokesperson, confirmed on Wednesday that Marocco would serve as the agency's director of foreign assistance. She called it "an indispensable role in aligning all U.S. government foreign assistance with the president's priorities."

The AP reported that Lewin's appointment marked "at least the second DOGE lieutenant" to move to the USAID.

While with the DOGE, Lewin played a key role in dismantling the USAID's waste, which included terminating 83% of its contracts and placing the remainder under the State Department.

A memo obtained by the Times reportedly revealed that the State Department plans to redesignate the USAID as the U.S. Agency for International Humanitarian Assistance and terminate its current independent status.

Also earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland, in response to a lawsuit filed by USAID staffers, blocked the DOGE from making additional cuts. The complaint claimed that the DOGE and Elon Musk lacked the authority to dismantle the agency.

After ruling that the cuts were most likely unconstitutional, the judge ordered that the DOGE restore staffers' email and computer access.

"To deny plaintiffs' Appointments Clause claim solely on the basis that, on paper, Musk has no formal legal authority relating to the decisions at issue, even if he is actually exercising significant authority on governmental matters, would open the door to an end-run around the Appointments Clause," Chuang wrote in his decision.

Several Republican lawmakers are seeking to codify the DOGE, a move that would help shield it from the left's relentless lawfare.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Trump admin confirms all non-'essential' USAID personnel on leave, 1,600 positions being terminated



Democratic politicians and beneficiaries of taxpayer-funded U.S. Agency for International Development handouts — both foreign and domestic — have raged against the possibility that the pre-eminent international humanitarian and development arm of the federal government might undergo reform or possibly even be closed.

Their protest was evidently in vain.

The Trump administration has placed all personnel at the U.S. Agency for International Development "with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs" on administrative leave.

The action went into effect at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday.

According to a notice from the USAID Office of Inspector General, the administration is also eliminating 1,600 positions at the agency that are currently occupied.

The announcement comes on the heels of U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols' Friday decision to dissolve a temporary restraining order that protected 2,014 USAID employees from being placed on administrative leave. Those 2,014 employees would have been in addition to another 2,140 employees who were already on leave, reported the Courthouse News Service.

The union coalition of USAID employees that initially sued claimed that there would be "'catastrophic' 'humanitarian consequences' if USAID — either due to the funding freeze or a lack of staff — cannot continue to administer its standard foreign aid programs."

Nichols noted that the government "also identified plausible harms that could ensue if its actions with respect to USAID are not permitted to resume" and concluded that the plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate that "they or their members will suffer irreparable injury absent an injunction."

President Donald Trump noted in an executive order on his first day in office that the "foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values."

'You just gotta basically get rid of the whole thing.'

The president further indicated that moving forward, it would be the "policy of United States that no further United States foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States."

The U.S. Department of Government Efficiency took a close look at USAID and exposed its apparent use of taxpayer funds to support anti-American and leftist causes.

Blaze News previously reported, for example, that USAID blew $45 million on DEI scholarships in Burma; $2 million on sex-change activism in Guatemala; $37.9 million to study HIV among prostitutes, their johns, and transvestites in South Africa; $520 million for consultant-driven climate alarmist investments in Africa; $20 million on a "Sesame Street" show in Iraq; $1 million on a Hamas-linked charity in Gaza; and $4.67 million on EcoHealth Alliance, the scandal-plagued group whose subcontractor executed gain-of-function experiments on coronaviruses at the Wuhan lab.

Elon Musk, the head of the DOGE, suggested earlier this month, "As we dug into USAID, it became apparent that what we have here is not an apple with a worm in it, but we have, actually, just a ball of worms."

"And when there is no apple, you just gotta basically get rid of the whole thing," added Musk.

While dead weight was put on leave, agency personnel deemed "essential" were notified by 5 p.m. on Feb. 23 that they were expected to continue working.

Workers overseas who are getting the boot will apparently have access to a USAID-funded return travel program and will enjoy continued access to agency systems and diplomatic resources until their return home.

The American Foreign Service Association, the union that filed the lawsuit challenging terminations at USAID, said in a statement, "AFSA is deeply disappointed by the administration's hurried and callous decision to keep our dedicated public servants in limbo."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Federal Judge Rejects Union Bid To Halt USAID Dismantling

'Record does not reflect that such a direction is imminent'

Dem senator places 'blanket hold' on Trump's State Department nominees to protest USAID reorganization



Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said he will place a "blanket hold" on President Donald Trump's State Department nominees to slow-walk their confirmations.

On Monday, Schatz explained that he is stalling the president's nominations to protest Trump's and Elon Musk's desire to dissolve the United States Agency for International Development.

'I will do maximal delays until this is resolved.'

Musk's Department of Government Efficiency discovered wasteful, anti-American spending by USAID.

"As we dug into USAID, it became apparent that what we have here is not an apple with a worm in it, but we have, actually, just a ball of worms," Musk said. "It's hopeless. USAID is a ball of worms. There is no apple. And when there is no apple, you just gotta basically get rid of the whole thing."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Monday that he is the acting director of USAID.

"One of the most common complaints you will get if you go to embassies around the world from State Department officials and ambassadors and the like is USAID is not only not cooperative — they undermine the work that we're doing in that country, they are supporting programs that upset the host government for whom we're trying to work with on a broader scale, and so forth," Rubio stated.

On Monday, workers were locked out of the USAID building as the White House prepares a reorganization of the agency's activities.

Democrats gathered outside the building to protest, claiming the action was "illegal."

Schatz stated that he plans to retaliate against the Trump administration's decision by opposing senators' requests for "unanimous consent" to expedite the confirmation process of presidential nominees.

"I will vote no. I will do maximal delays until this is resolved," he told the Wall Street Journal. "You cannot wave a wand and eliminate a department established by federal law, so it will be reversed by a court."

Schatz claimed that dissolving USAID would be "illegal" and make the country "less safe."

"Donald Trump and Elon Musk can't just wish it away with a stroke of a pen — they need to pass a law," he said. "Until and unless this brazenly authoritarian action is reversed and USAID is functional again, I will be placing a blanket hold on all of the Trump administration's State Department nominees."

"This is self-inflicted chaos of epic proportions that will have dangerous consequences all around the world," Schatz claimed.

Schatz's hold will force Republican lawmakers to waste floor time to confirm Trump's nominees instead of fast-tracking them for a vote. While Democrats do not have enough votes on their own to block Trump's picks, they can drag out the process.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!