Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who leads President Donald Trump's federal cost-cutting initiative, announced plans to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of a broader effort to shrink the government.
Speaking on a social media talk on X early Monday, Musk described USAID as "beyond repair" and confirmed that President Trump supports the decision. Musk, who also heads Tesla and SpaceX, was joined in the discussion by former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Senators Joni Ernst and Mike Lee.
The move comes as part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the panel Musk leads to identify federal budget cuts. USAID, the world’s largest single donor, disbursed $72 billion in global assistance in fiscal year 2023, supporting programs ranging from women’s health and clean water to HIV/AIDS treatment and anti-corruption efforts.
Musk claimed the administration could cut $1 trillion from the U.S. deficit next year, citing alleged fraud in foreign aid, though he provided no evidence to support his claims.
The announcement follows reports that the Trump administration removed two top security officials at USAID over the weekend after they resisted DOGE representatives' attempts to access restricted areas within the agency.
USAID’s website remains offline, and concerns are mounting over the fate of critical humanitarian programs. Trump's "America First" policy, which includes a global freeze on most U.S. foreign aid, has raised alarms internationally, with refugee aid, landmine clearance, and HIV treatments at risk of elimination.
Musk’s expanding influence over government systems, including reported access to the U.S. Treasury’s payment infrastructure, has sparked criticism from lawmakers. Senator Peter Welch (D-VT), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, condemned Musk's access as a "gross abuse of power" and called for greater transparency.
Despite the backlash, Trump continues to back Musk's leadership. "He's a big cost-cutter," Trump said on Sunday. "Sometimes we won't agree with it... but I think he's doing a great job. He's a smart guy. Very smart."
Musk’s team has also reportedly taken control of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), locking career civil servants out of systems containing sensitive data on millions of federal employees.
Since returning to office 11 days ago, Trump has initiated a sweeping overhaul of the federal government, dismissing hundreds of civil servants and installing loyalists across key agencies.
Russian gas supplies to Armenia will be suspended for 10 days beginning from Tuesday due to planned maintenance work on the North Caucasus-Transcaucas...
British police said on Monday they had planned for "just about every eventuality" ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's state visit this week, with t...
Simon Leviev, made infamous by Netflix’s The Tinder Swindler, has been arrested at a Georgian airport, officials confirmed....
The founding family of Italiana Petroli is close to finalising the sale of the oil refiner to the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), in a deal t...
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday called on Qatar to continue to play a constructive role in resolving the Gaza conflict, speaking in Jeru...
Billionaire Elon Musk's satellite internet service Starlink was back online for most users after a brief outage on Monday, according to tracking website Downdetector.com.
Elon Musk’s Starlink is experiencing a widespread service outage, the company announced on its website on Monday. Downdetector had recorded more than 43,000 users in the United States were affected as of 12:35 a.m. ET (0435 GMT).
Billionaire Elon Musk has called for “revolutionary government change” in the United Kingdom, addressing a far-right anti-immigration rally in London via livestream on Saturday.
Pope Leo has criticised corporate pay packages that grant executives hundreds of times more than workers, citing Tesla’s $1 trillion compensation plan for CEO Elon Musk. The remarks came in excerpts from his first media interview, released on Sunday by Catholic news site Crux.
AnewZ has learned that India has once again blocked Azerbaijan’s application for full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, while Pakistan’s recent decision to consider diplomatic relations with Armenia has been coordinated with Baku as part of Azerbaijan’s peace agenda.
A day of mourning has been declared in Portugal to pay respect to victims who lost their lives in the Lisbon Funicular crash which happened on Wednesday evening.
A Polish Air Force pilot was killed on Thursday when an F-16 fighter jet crashed during a training flight ahead of the 2025 Radom International Air Show.
Music mega-star Taylor Swift and National Football League player Travis Kelce announced their engagement. “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married," the couple wrote in a joint Instagram post, alongside photos of Kelce proposing to Swift in a garden of pink and white flowers.
Russian gas supplies to Armenia will be suspended for 10 days beginning from Tuesday due to planned maintenance work on the North Caucasus-Transcaucasia main pipeline in Russia’s Stavropol region,Gazprom Armenia announced on Monday.
British police said on Monday they had planned for "just about every eventuality" ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's state visit this week, with the bulk of the trip being held out of public view.
Simon Leviev, made infamous by Netflix’s The Tinder Swindler, has been arrested at a Georgian airport, officials confirmed.
The founding family of Italiana Petroli is close to finalising the sale of the oil refiner to the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), in a deal that would give the Azerbaijani group control of one of Italy’s largest petrol station networks, three sources have said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday called on Qatar to continue to play a constructive role in resolving the Gaza conflict, speaking in Jerusalem on the same day that Arab leaders were meeting in Doha to respond to an Israeli strike.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment