https://www.reuters.com/world/us/more-usaid-staff-ousted-trump-administration-dismantles-aid-agency-2025-02-02/

tRump and crew are setting themselves up to be all of the government in one agency.  No need to have congress, House or Senate.  No oversight allowed, they will spend money as it please king tRump and co-king Musk.  The House controls the power of the purse and the congress passes the laws demanding where and when money is spent by law.  It is called the Impoundment Act.  tRump was impeached the first time for violating it.  But now that he has bought, controls the SCOTUS he is sure they will vote that king tRump and only future republican presidents.  Democratic presidents will still have to follow the laws and be regulated by what republicans will demand be republican control congresses. Notice that doge asshole thugs with no security clearances forced their way into the areas threatening security with members of the Marshall service, no longer should it be considered a law enforcement but gang thugs controlled by a mob boss wannabee.  Update before I posted this today, the thug in charge moved the organization illegally Hugs 

Sorry I did not answer questions or anything today.  I had an emergency doctor’s visit that turned out and did not mean anything bad that I know yet.  It seems it will be all good yet I have not had a call from the doctor.  He needed me to coming with an emergency appointment.  I went in at 11 am and he told me how serious the results were.  However, at the end of the appointment I left and  

“DOGE did access the building yesterday,” a senior Senate Democratic aide said, requesting anonymity to discuss the incident. USAID security officers tried to turn away DOGE personnel without security clearances.

 

“They (security personnel) were threatened with action by the federal Marshals Service,” the aide said. Following the incident, the director of USAID security, John Voorhees, and his deputy were removed from their positions and put on leave, sources said.

By Jonathan Landay, Patricia Zengerle and Andrea Shalal

February 2, 20258:54 PM ESTUpdated 10 hours ago

A view of the USAID building in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 1, 2025. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon Purchase Licensing Rights

 

• Summary

• Two top USAID security officials removed after dispute with DOGE
• Nearly 100 USAID staff put on leave as Trump seeks overhaul
• Democrats question the legality of USAID revamp
• Global aid programs at risk due to US foreign aid freeze
• USAID website down, signaling potential agency closure

WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (Reuters) – The Trump administration removed two top security officials at USAID during the weekend after they tried to stop representatives from billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from gaining access to restricted parts of the building, three sources said on Sunday.

The action added to the dozens of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) staff being removed from their positions, as President Donald Trump’s team moves to abolish the agency’s independence and possibly bring it under the control of the State Department.

 

Nearly 30 career staff in the agency’s Legislative and Public Affairs bureau lost access overnight to their emails, at least five sources said, bringing the total number of senior USAID career staff who have been put on leave over the past week close to 100.

“DOGE did access the building yesterday,” a senior Senate Democratic aide said, requesting anonymity to discuss the incident. USAID security officers tried to turn away DOGE personnel without security clearances.

 

“They (security personnel) were threatened with action by the federal Marshals Service,” the aide said. Following the incident, the director of USAID security, John Voorhees, and his deputy were removed from their positions and put on leave, sources said.

Trump on Sunday said the agency has “been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out.”

“We’re getting them out, and then we’ll make a decision,” he told reporters.

 

The purge follows more than a week of mayhem inside USAID, Washington’s primary agency funding billions of dollars’ worth of life-saving aid globally. Trump ordered a freeze on almost all U.S. foreign aid, saying his administration will review spending to ensure money is distributed in line with his “America First” foreign policy.

Members of the group from DOGE were allowed to access several secure spaces, including the office of security and the agency’s executive secretariat.

 

There was no record of what information DOGE officials were able to obtain in those areas, but the offices they accessed included classified files and personal information about Americans who work at USAID, the sources said.

Katie Miller, a DOGE spokesperson, said on social media platform X that no classified material was accessed without proper security clearances.

Matt Hopson, who had just been appointed as USAID chief of staff by the Trump administration, has resigned, five sources familiar with the matter said. A congressional source said his resignation followed the incident with DOGE officials. USAID did not respond to a request for comment about Hopson.

 

CNN was first to report the incident between USAID and DOGE officials.

LEGAL BATTLE LOOMS

Congressional Democrats said the changes appeared to violate U.S. laws establishing USAID and funding it as a separate agency. Two senior Senate Democratic aides said lawmakers and staff had been meeting on Sunday and would meet again on Monday to consider further steps, including legal action.

Senior Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including its chair Jeanne Shaheen, on Sunday sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio seeking an explanation over the incident. Shaheen said that she was working to gather Democrats and Republicans to ask for answers.

The global freeze on most of U.S. foreign aid is already sending shockwaves around the world. Field hospitals in Thai refugee camps, landmine clearance in war zones, and drugs to treat millions suffering from diseases such as HIV are among the programs at risk of elimination.

U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast, a Republican, said on Sunday that he would support moving USAID under the State Department and that there needs to be “more command and control.”

Asked on CBS’ “Face the Nation” if congressional approval was needed or whether Trump could act unilaterally, Mast did not answer. The “purging of people throughout the State Department, other agencies” and freezing aid were “all very important and necessary steps to make sure that we secure America,” he said.

The State Department and USAID did not respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, billionaire Trump ally Musk on Sunday continued to slam USAID in his posts and reposts on his X social network. Trump has assigned Musk to lead a federal cost-cutting panel with broad oversight powers. Officials from DOGE have made frequent visits to USAID headquarters in Washington, according to sources familiar with the matter.

On Sunday, Musk accused USAID of being “a criminal organization” without providing any evidence and added “Time for it to die”.

Peter Marocco was appointed as head of the Office of Foreign Assistance at the State Department and is leading the agency’s sweeping changes, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Marocco previously served in Trump’s first administration in the Department of Defense. The State Department did not respond to questions about Marocco.

USAID’s website has been down since Saturday afternoon, a sign that the end is near for the agency, whose funding goes to programs on everything from women’s health in conflict zones to access to clean water, HIV/AIDS treatments, energy security and anti-corruption work.

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Reporting by Jonathan Landay, Patricia Zengerle, Humeyra Pamuk, Andrea Shalal in Washington, and Simon Lewis in Panama City; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Jarrett Renshaw and Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Humeyra Pamuk, Lisa Shumaker and Sandra Maler