Washington, March 29 (RHC)-- The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has officially shuttered the US Agency for International Development (USAID), dealing a final blow to the foreign aid agency.
The State Department on Friday formally notified Congress that it was “effectively dissolving” the USAID and moving some of its functions under the department. In a memo distributed to USAID employees, Jeremy Lewin, the agency's new deputy director, wrote that the State Department "intends to assume responsibility for many of USAID's functions and its ongoing programming."
The State Department "will seek to retire USAID's independent operation" immediately and "assess" whether to rehire some unknown number of officials to "assume the responsible administration of USAID's remaining life-saving and strategic aid programming," the memo said.
“It will also obviate the need for USAID to continue operating as an independent establishment.” As part of the move, the memo stressed: "All non-statutory positions at USAID will be eliminated."
The Trump administration has stated on multiple occasions that USAID is mismanaging taxpayer dollars and funding overseas programs that are not in US interests despite claims by current and former USAID employees and aid experts that the agency meets humanitarian needs around the globe.
In its first weeks in office, the Trump administration moved to dismantle USAID and freeze almost all foreign assistance, pending a review of those programs. Since then, thousands of USAID employees have been fired or put on leave, and billions of dollars in aid contracts have been canceled.
The decision to shut down a federal agency is expected to prompt legal scrutiny, according to experts who said such a move would typically require congressional approval.
Praising the move in a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that the administration was officially moving to eliminate USAID and that foreign aid would be administered by the State Department.
"Thanks to President Trump, this misguided and fiscally irresponsible era is now over," Rubio said in his statement. "We are reorienting our foreign assistance programs to align directly with what is best for the United States and our citizens."
Established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, the USAID has a long history of instigating unrest with the aim of overthrowing governments in various Latin American countries, including Cuba and Venezuela.
The footprints of the agency have also been discovered in coups staged in eastern Europe.
