US Department of State assumes control of USAID
Pravda Ukraine
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio now serves as the acting head of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). This was revealed on the heels of the Donald Trump administration’s intentions to shut down the agency.
Source: European Pravda, citing CNN
Details: During a visit to El Salvador on Monday, Rubio told reporters he was acting head of USAID and criticised the agency for being “completely unresponsive”.
He said that this would stop and be put to an end.
Earlier, American billionaire Elon Musk said he had spoken to Donald Trump about USAID and the president had supposedly agreed that “we should shut it down”.
Meanwhile, the agency’s headquarters in Washington have been closed and its employees received an email instructing them to stay home. USAID’s social media accounts have been deleted and its website has been shut down.
In addition, representatives from the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency visited USAID headquarters over the weekend and gained access to classified premises and data on American citizens.
USAID employees, speaking on condition of anonymity, told CNN that senior agency executives were fired on charges of attempting to circumvent Trump’s 90-day foreign aid freeze.
A number of other employees were also put on unpaid leave.
Background: On 25 January, the United States suspended all non-military international assistance for 90 days. At the time, a USAID representative stated that staff responsible for projects in Ukraine had been ordered to halt all work.
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