The Trump administration’s move to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development is illegal and unconstitutional, a group of House and Senate Democrats told a large crowd of people protesting outside of the organization’s headquarters on Monday in Washington, D.C.
“USAID was established by an act of Congress, and it can only be disbanded by an act of Congress,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.).
USAID personnel at the agency’s Washington headquarters were instructed overnight not to come into the office and to work remotely, except for employees with essential on-site or building maintenance duties, who were individually contacted by senior leadership. The USAID website was also shut down over the weekend.
“Elon Musk and his band of unelected acolytes at [the Department of Government Efficiency] have locked USAID employees from their offices, improperly accessed highly classified information, purged the agency of its nonpartisan leadership and thrown the agency into chaos through a concerted campaign of harassment and intimidation of its employees,” Beyer said.
After the press conference, the Democratic lawmakers attempted to enter the headquarters to hear directly from USAID employees about what was happening inside the agency. They made it into the lobby but were ultimately denied entry after an official told lawmakers the agency employees were busy and there was no one available to take the meeting.
Monday’s events further fueled the chaos surrounding the organization responsible for administering humanitarian assistance across the world, including providing aid during disasters, conflicts, and health emergencies and supporting disease prevention — the agency is considered one of the country’s forms of soft power.
Over the past two weeks since President Donald Trump took the oath of office, he put a freeze on all U.S. foreign aid, and the agency issued stop-work orders to USAID grant recipients and thousands of USAID workers have been laid off.
Musk said early Monday he was in the process of dismantling the agency and that he had Trump’s full support. Marco Rubio, Trump’s secretary of State, said Monday he was USAID’s acting administrator moving forward.
“If you want to change an agency, introduce a bill and pass a law. You cannot wave away an agency that you don’t like or that you disagree with by executive order or by literally storming into the building and taking over the servers,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said during the rally.
Shatz said he would place a blanket hold on Trump’s picks to the State Department as a protest over Trump’s decision to close down the agency, the Wall Street Journal reported before the rally.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who said he would protest alongside Shatz, said the move to shut down the agency is a “clear violation of our law.”
And Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said that overhauling the agency is a “matter for Congress to deal with, not an unelected billionaire oligarch named Elon Musk.”
“It is the lead development agency in the world, and no one elected Elon Musk to dismantle it. We are going to fight in every way we can, in the courts, in public opinion, in the halls of Congress, and here at USAID itself,” said Murphy.
“Congress created this agency through the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and if you want to change it, you have to change that law,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said. “It is a matter of statute.”
The American Foreign Service Association, a nonpartisan group that represents over 1,800 USAID foreign service officers, said the move to shut down USAID will “undermine U.S. national security, may subvert Congressional authority, and demonstrates a lack of respect for the dedication of the development professionals who serve America’s interests abroad.”
“Attacking USAID professionals means attacking the very people who work to prevent conflicts, stabilize fragile regions, and advance American interests abroad,” AFSA said in a statement. “Equally alarming is the lack of explanation for the reorganization and of communication with stakeholders, including Congress, USAID leadership, and career professionals. The sudden transfer of USAID’s functions to the State Department, apparently without Congressional notification and no clear plan for continuity, raises serious concerns about the future of U.S. development policy and America’s global standing.”
Former President John F. Kennedy created USAID during the Cold War to counter Soviet influence around the globe through foreign aid. Since then, Republicans and Democrats have debated USAID’s role, priorities and funding.
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