Just one week after the Trump administration initiated a near-total freeze of U.S. foreign aid, the future of the U.S. Agency for International Development — the agency at the heart of America’s humanitarian assistance operations overseas — remains uncertain.
Trump administration officials are actively discussing placing USAID under the authority of the State Department, according to more than a dozen current and former officials and sources familiar with the discussions, further crippling an agency that has already been brought to its knees.
In the past week, hundreds of USAID employees and contractors have been fired or furloughed, almost 60 senior career leaders at the agency have been sidelined and U.S. foreign missions have been brought to a standstill. Thousands of related jobs are also under threat of furlough or firing in the days ahead.
On Friday, prominent signs in the front lobby of the agency's Washington headquarters appeared to have been removed, leaving those still employed to brace for the possibility of USAID shutting down altogether.
“It is imperative that we maintain an independent development voice and capability within the U.S. government. USAID is, by statute, an independent establishment outside of the State Department,” Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York and Lois Frankel of Florida wrote in a statement late Friday. “Any proposal to modify that structure would require an Act of Congress.”
“A president cannot eliminate an appropriated federal agency by executive order,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., warned in a post on X.
Despite a rapid-fire social media storm naming dozens of secretaries, ambassadors, special envoys and senior advisers before taking office, President Donald Trump has yet to nominate a leader for the federal humanitarian aid agency.
According to multiple sources who spoke with NBC News, the downsizing of the agency has largely been directed by Pete Marocco, who was installed by the Trump administration as the head of the State Department’s Office of Bureau of Foreign Assistance. Marocco held several national security positions under the previous Trump administration, including at USAID, where his attempts to consolidate power and slash funding drove officials to write a dissent memo that ultimately pushed him out of office, the sources said.
“What he’s doing now is frighteningly similar to everything he was trying to do at USAID before, but this time he’s destroying it,” said one USAID official familiar with his past actions.
Critics of the Trump administration’s decision to pause U.S. foreign aid and dramatically downsize USAID argue that the cuts under the banner of "America First" ultimately benefit U.S. adversaries.
“Trump’s USAID purge and foreign aid pause is already hurting efforts to deliver aid and growing China’s world standing at our expense,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said Friday.
“He’s effectively putting the Trump and Rubio foreign policy vision at risk,” another USAID official told NBC News, warning, “If you kill an institution, you are not going to revive it overnight.”
The State Department and USAID did not immediately respond to NBC News’ requests for comment.
Project 2025, the expansive report initiated by the Heritage Foundation and dozens of other Trump-aligned conservative organizations, foreshadowed the actions that Marocco has taken, including the decision to place almost 60 USAID policy-making career civil servants and foreign service officers on administrative leave.
The Project 2025 document said that USAID should “pilot-test” the transformation of those civil servant positions into political appointee roles and outlined a broader effort to consolidate USAID.
