USAID officials placed on leave after blocking DOGE access to systems

by WorldTribune Staff, February 3, 2025 Real World News

Officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were placed on leave after they refused to turn over classified material to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), reports say.

The Associated Press reported on Sunday that the USAID employees were eventually unsuccessful and DOGE teams were able to gain access to some of the agency’s classified information, including intelligence reports.

President Donald Trump, who said the foreign aid agency was being run by “radical lunatics,” has moved the agency under the purview of the State Department, which will bring cuts to the workforce.

Trump named Secretary of State Marco Rubio as USAID’s acting administrator.

NBC News reported that USAID officials John Voorhees and deputy Brian McGill believed they were legally obligated to deny DOGE teams access after claiming they didn’t have a high enough security clearance. They refused to allow the DOGE employees in and threatened to call U.S. Marshalls, NBC News reported.

In a post on X on Sunday, Elon Musk said USAID is a criminal organization and it was “time for it to die.”

In another post online, Katie Miller, who works for DOGE, said there was no classified material accessed “without proper security clearances.”

According to Newsmax, an email was sent to USAID staffers saying, “At the direction of Agency leadership” the headquarters facilities in DC “will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, Feb. 3.”

Musk said at an X Spaces event Sunday evening: “None of this could be done without the full support of the president. I went over it with him in detail, and he agreed with that we should shut it down. I want to be clear. I actually checked with him a few times. I said, ‘Are you sure?’ ‘Yes.’ So we’re shutting it down.”

“It became apparent that its not an apple with a worm it in,” Musk added. “What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair.”

USAID was formed in 1961 with the mission of providing humanitarian assistance to other countries impacted by conflicts. It currently has a budget of more than $50 billion.

The State Department issued the following statement on Monday:

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has long strayed from its original mission of responsibly advancing American interests abroad, and it is now abundantly clear that significant portions of USAID funding are not aligned with the core national interests of the United States.

As an interim step toward gaining control and better understanding over the agency’s activity, President Donald J. Trump appointed Secretary Marco Rubio as Acting Administrator.

Secretary Rubio has also now notified Congress that a review of USAID’s foreign assistance activities is underway with an eye towards potential reorganization.

As we evaluate USAID and ensure it is in alignment with an America First agenda and the efforts of the State Department, we will continue to protect the American people’s interests and ensure their tax dollars are not wasted.

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