USAID staffers told to stay out of Washington headquarters after Musk said Trump agreed to close it 

Washington — 

Staffers of the U.S. Agency for International Development were instructed to enactment retired of the agency's Washington office connected Monday, according to a announcement distributed to them, aft billionaire Elon Musk announced President Donald Trump had agreed with him to unopen the agency.

USAID staffers said they besides tracked much than 600 employees who reported being locked retired of the agency's machine systems overnight. Those inactive successful the strategy received emails saying that "at the absorption of Agency leadership" the office gathering "will beryllium closed to Agency unit connected Monday, Feb. 3."

The developments travel aft Musk, who's starring an bonzer civilian reappraisal of the national authorities with the Republican president's agreement, said aboriginal Monday that helium had spoken with Trump astir the six-decade U.S. assistance and improvement bureau and "he agreed we should unopen it down."

"It became evident that its not an pome with a worm it in," Musk said successful a unrecorded league connected X Spaces aboriginal Monday. "What we person is conscionable a shot of worms. You've got to fundamentally get escaped of the full thing. It's beyond repair."

"We're shutting it down," helium said.

Musk, Trump and immoderate Republican lawmakers person targeted the U.S. assistance and improvement agency, which oversees humanitarian, improvement and information programs successful immoderate 120 countries, successful progressively strident terms, accusing it of promoting wide causes.

Over the weekend, the Trump medication placed 2 apical information chiefs astatine USAID connected permission aft they refused to crook implicit classified worldly successful restricted areas to Musk's government-inspection teams, a existent and a erstwhile U.S. authoritative told The Associated Press connected Sunday.

Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, known arsenic DOGE, earlier carried retired a akin cognition astatine the Treasury Department, gaining entree to delicate accusation including the Social Security and Medicare lawsuit outgo systems. The Washington Post reported that a elder Treasury authoritative had resigned implicit Musk's squad accessing delicate information.

Democratic lawmakers person protested the moves, saying Trump lacks law authorization to unopen down USAID without legislature support and decrying Musk's accessing delicate government-held accusation done his Trump-sanctioned inspections of national authorities agencies and programs.

USAID, whose website vanished Saturday without explanation, has been 1 of the national agencies astir targeted by the Trump medication successful an escalating crackdown connected the national authorities and galore of its programs.

"It's been tally by a clump of extremist lunatics. And we're getting them out," Trump said to reporters astir USAID connected Sunday night.

Musk's and Trump's comments came with Secretary of State Marco Rubio retired of the country, successful Central America, connected his archetypal travel overseas successful office. Rubio has not spoken publically astir immoderate plans to unopen down USAID.

The Trump medication and Rubio person imposed an unprecedented frost connected overseas assistance that has unopen down overmuch of USAID's assistance programs worldwide — compelling thousands of layoffs by assistance organizations — and ordered furloughs and leaves that person gutted the agency's enactment and unit successful Washington..

Peter Marocco, a returning governmental appointee from Trump's archetypal term, was a person successful enforcing the shutdown. USAID staffers accidental they judge that bureau outsiders with visitors' badges asking questions of employees wrong the Washington office are members of Musk's DOGE team.

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren said successful a station connected Sunday that Trump was allowing Musk to entree people's idiosyncratic accusation and unopen down authorities funding.

"We indispensable bash everything successful our powerfulness to propulsion backmost and support radical from harm," the Massachusetts legislator said, without giving details.