Musk Calls for USAID Demise After Security Clash Amid Concerns Over Foreign Aid Future
Elon Musk, appointed by President Trump to lead the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has launched a scathing attack on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), calling for its complete dismantling, Al Jazera reports.
Musk’s declaration came after reports emerged that two top USAID security officials were placed on leave for denying DOGE personnel access to classified materials.
The conflict arose when representatives of DOGE, a task force created by executive order and not a formal government department, attempted to enter secure areas of USAID headquarters. According to multiple media reports, the agency’s director of security, John Voorhees, and his deputy, Brian McGill, denied the task force entry due to a lack of proper security clearances. While some reports initially indicated DOGE was blocked, it appears the task force eventually gained access to areas containing classified information, further fueling the controversy.
“Time for it to die,” Musk wrote on his social media platform X, labeling USAID a “criminal organization.”
White House Director of Communications, Steven Cheung, denied that DOGE personnel had tried to access secure areas, dismissing a PBS report on the incident as “fake news.” However, Katie Miller, who works at DOGE, seemed to acknowledge the attempted entry on X, saying that “no classified material was accessed without proper security clearances.”
This clash comes amid mounting concerns that President Trump is planning to drastically curtail or eliminate USAID entirely. The President has already placed a freeze on nearly all foreign aid. Adding to these concerns was a recent incident where the USAID website went offline, briefly replaced by a barebones page hosted on the Department of State’s website. Speculation has arisen that the administration may plan to subsume USAID into the State Department.
Jeremy Konyndyk, former director of USAID’s Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance, asserted that eliminating USAID without an act of Congress would be illegal and a violation of the separation of powers principle enshrined in the US Constitution. Democratic lawmakers have also expressed alarm about Musk’s apparent growing influence over the government, given that he doesn’t hold elected office.
Adding fuel to the fire, reports have surfaced that DOGE has also gained access to the federal payment system, which holds sensitive personal information on millions of Americans.
President Trump addressed the situation, stating that his administration would remove the “radical lunatics” from USAID before making a final decision regarding its future. He then singled out aid to South Africa, vowing to cut off all future funding due to recent land confiscations and what he called the poor treatment of “certain classes of people.” President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa recently signed a controversial law allowing the confiscation of land from white farmers without compensation in certain cases.
In 2023, the US allocated nearly $440 million in assistance to South Africa. The US is by far the largest source of foreign aid globally, disbursing a total of $72 billion across nearly 180 countries, with more than half channeled through USAID.
