WASHINGTON, USA — Tech billionaire Elon Musk announced early Monday, February 3, 2025, that he and President Donald Trump are working to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID.
This move escalates efforts to overhaul federal agencies and raises legal questions about the administration’s authority to proceed without congressional approval
Musk, who leads Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), made the announcement in an audio-only appearance on his social media platform X, stating unequivocally: “We’re shutting it down.”
He later added, “We’re in the process” of closing the foreign assistance agency and said he had spoken with Trump multiple times about the plan.
“With regard to the USAID stuff, I went over [it] with him in detail, and he agreed that we should shut it down,” Musk said, adding that he had checked with Trump several times to confirm the decision.
The White House has not yet publicly responded to Musk’s remarks, and it remains unclear whether Trump intends to follow through on a full shutdown or explore other structural changes to USAID.
Legal and Bureaucratic Challenges
While Trump has long criticised USAID, calling it “run by a bunch of radical lunatics,” he has not previously stated an intention to shutter the agency outright.
Legal experts say such a move would likely face significant challenges, as Congress controls federal appropriations, including USAID’s $40 billion budget for the 2023 fiscal year.
The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 prohibits the president from withholding funds that have already been approved by Congress.
Some Trump administration officials, however, have argued the law is unconstitutional, hinting at a possible legal battle.
Congress created USAID in 1961 under President John F. Kennedy through an executive order following a legislative reorganisation of U.S. foreign assistance.
The agency’s closure would mark one of the most significant restructurings of American foreign aid in decades.
A 2016 report by FastCompany revealed that the top recipient for USAID grants “isn’t a struggling developing country in need of food or medicine, but Israel, which will get around $3.1 billion in military aid this year”.
Tensions Within USAID
The move to dismantle USAID follows weeks of turmoil within the agency.
Last Monday, more than 50 career civil servants at USAID were placed on administrative leave.
On Saturday, an internal dispute escalated when USAID’s director of security and his deputy were also placed on leave after attempting to block Musk’s DOGE employees from accessing secure USAID systems.
According to multiple sources familiar with the situation, the DOGE employees threatened to call U.S. Marshals if they were denied access.
It remains unclear what information, if any, they obtained.
Musk’s Push for Deregulation
Beyond USAID, Musk signaled broader ambitions to dismantle federal oversight and regulatory frameworks, calling for sweeping deregulation across government agencies.
“Regulations basically should be default gone. Default gone, not default there, default gone,” he said.
Musk also indicated that he viewed this as a critical moment to push for major changes within the federal government.
“This is our shot. This is the best hand of cards we’re ever going to have,” he said. “Now or never.”
Political Fallout
While Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) joined Musk on the call and expressed support for eliminating wasteful federal spending, it remains unclear how much Republican lawmakers will back the proposed closure of USAID.
Some members of Congress have supported placing USAID under the State Department’s authority, rather than shutting it down entirely.
That proposal has been met with resistance from Democratic lawmakers and legal experts, who argue that such a move would violate existing federal statutes.
Musk’s Past Connections to USAID
Despite his current push to shut down the agency, USAID has previously worked with Musk’s SpaceX.
In 2022, the agency partnered with SpaceX to deliver 5,000 Starlink satellite internet terminals to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.
Now, however, Musk appears to have turned sharply against the agency. In a post on X, he called USAID “beyond repair” and “hopeless.”
“It’s not an apple with a worm in it,” he said in a Space on X. “It’s just a ball of worms.”
He later added: “Spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper. Could have gone to some great parties. Did that instead.”
‘It’s beyond repair’: #ElonMusk on why #USAID needs to be shut down
“If you have an apple with a worm in it, you can take the worm out. If you have a whole ball of worms, it’s hopeless.”#USAID pic.twitter.com/4yTql0ECI6
— Mahalaxmi Ramanathan (@MahalaxmiRaman) February 3, 2025
What’s Next?
With Trump already implementing a 90-day freeze on most U.S. foreign assistance, attention now turns to whether the White House will formally move to dissolve USAID, face congressional opposition, or attempt to restructure the agency instead.
Legal experts anticipate that any effort to close USAID without congressional approval would face immediate legal challenges, potentially setting up another high-stakes battle between the Trump administration and the courts.
