What does USAID do? How government agency that's been 'shut down' by Elon Musk spent billions

The Agency for International Development (USAID) was created to supply humanitarian alleviation oversees, but it's been fixed the axe aft it was declared 'beyond repair' by the Trump administration. 

USAID staffers were instructed to enactment retired of the agency’s DC office connected Monday aft Elon Musk announced President Donald Trump had agreed with him to unopen the bureau down.

The billionaire 'first buddy,' who is starring a civilian reappraisal of the national authorities done the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has claimed the bureau is simply a 'criminal organization.'

'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.'

USAID, whose website vanished Saturday without explanation, administers billions of dollars successful humanitarian, improvement and information programs successful astir 120 countries.

It was established successful 1961 nether president John F Kennedy to 'lead US efforts to alleviate poverty, disease, and humanitarian need, and assists U.S. commercialized interests by supporting processing countries’ economical maturation and gathering countries’ capableness to enactment successful satellite trade,' according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). 

The assistance agency, which managed implicit $40million successful 2023, employs implicit 10,000 radical - with astir two-thirds serving overseas.

The countries who received the astir USAID-managed funds successful 2023 were Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Syria.

USAID's biggest backing sectors person been related to wellness since the 1990s, with the bureau donating billions to combat HIV/AIDS astir the world. 

Aside from funds for humanitarian alleviation similar nutrient and medicine, USAID besides funds pro-democracy NGOs that absorption connected acquisition and ineligible assistance successful places nether authoritarian regimes. 

The bureau has besides helped money pro-democracy projects specified arsenic autarkic media successful nations similar Ukraine, Georgia, Venezuela and Mozambique. According to the Center for International Media Assistance, the US authorities is the largest nationalist donor to autarkic media improvement globally - mostly done USAID. 

USAID has besides funded pro-LGBTQ initiatives specified arsenic a radical successful Serbia called 'Grupa Izadji,' which successful English translates to 'Group Come Out.'

Former Obama medication Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, led the bureau during Joe Biden's term.  

While the authoritative USAID website has been unopen down, an archival leafage but the archetypal Donald Trump medication describes its ngo arsenic 'promoting and demonstrating antiauthoritarian values and advancing a free, peaceful, and prosperous world.'

USAID 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, Trump and immoderate Republican lawmakers person targeted the bureau successful progressively strident terms, accusing it of promoting wide causes. 

Senator Chris Murphy was 1 of a half-dozen Democrats connected the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to reason successful statements and connected societal media that President Trump would person nary ineligible authorization to dissolve the agency.

Aid organizations accidental the backing frost — and heavy disorder implicit what U.S.-funded programs indispensable halt enactment arsenic a effect — has near them agonizing implicit whether they could proceed operating programs specified arsenic those providing round-the-clock nutritional enactment to highly malnourished infants and children, knowing that closing the doors means that galore of those children would die.

Current and erstwhile officials astatine the State Department and USAID accidental staffers were invited to taxable requests to exempt definite programs from the overseas assistance freeze, which Trump imposed January 20 and the State Department elaborate however to execute connected January 24.

Three days later, astatine slightest 56 elder vocation USAID staffers were abruptly placed connected administrative leave.

Three officials said galore of those enactment connected permission were lawyers progressive successful determining what programs mightiness suffice for waivers, helping constitute proposals and submitting those waiver requests arsenic they believed they had been invited to do.

In an interior memo Monday astir the staffing changes, caller acting USAID head Jason Gray said the bureau had identified 'several actions wrong USAID that look to beryllium designed to circumvent the President’s Executive Orders and the mandate from the American people.'

'As a result, we person placed a fig of USAID employees connected administrative permission with afloat wage and benefits until further announcement portion we implicit our investigation of these actions,' Gray wrote.

A erstwhile elder USAID authoritative said those enactment connected permission had been helping assistance organizations navigate the 'confusing process' to question waivers from the assistance intermission for circumstantial life-saving projects, specified arsenic continuing cleanable h2o supplies for displaced radical successful warfare zones.

Others were identified arsenic having been progressive successful diversity, equity and inclusion programming, which the medication has banned.