Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. is “officially” canceling a majority of programs at the U.S. Agency for International Development.
“After a 6 week review we are officially cancelling 83% of the programs at USAID,” he said early Monday morning 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."
Rubio said the programs being kept will fall under the purview of the State Department.
“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,” Rubio added. “Thank you to DOGE and our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform.”
After a 6 week review we are officially cancelling 83% of the programs at USAID.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 10, 2025
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…
Rubio's statement comes after President Trump's Jan. 20 executive order directing a reevaluation and realignment of U.S. foreign aid, with the Trump administration arguing the industry has not been aligned with American interests.
Last month, Elon Musk, who's helping lead efforts at the Department of Government Efficiency, argued the agency is “beyond repair."
“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,” he said. “If you have an apple with a worm in it, you can take the worm out. If you have a whole ball of worms, it's hopeless. USAID is a ball of worms.”