
WASHINGTON ― US President Donald Trump’s extraordinary and unprecedented move to unilaterally shutter a federal agency without congressional approval drew little pushback from Republicans on Capitol Hill who’ve spent years complaining about executive overreach and infringements on their power of the purse.
“My attitude is, if you’re upset by that, call someone who cares,” Senator John Kennedy (Republican, Louisiana) told reporters on Monday. “Because that’s why we’re elected ― to review all the spending.”
Over the weekend, agents of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which is led by billionaire Elon Musk, effectively shut down the US Agency for International Development, locking its employees out of their computers, barring them from their offices and halting its work delivering humanitarian assistance abroad. The Tesla CEO then accused the agency of being a “criminal organisation” that should “die.”
Newly confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Republican proponent of USAID’s mission during his time serving the Senate, also announced on Monday he is taking over as acting director of USAID to overhaul its funding and operations. The agency, he said, would be consolidated under the State Department with the consultation of Congress.
Democratic lawmakers and legal experts warned the Trump administration has no authority to dissolve or consolidate the USAID, an independent government agency. They said that such efforts are unconstitutional and are likely to face challenges in court.
“A president is not a king,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (Democrat, Oregon) said. “Trump cannot eliminate USAID with the stroke of a pen. Not only is it illegal — it is a gift to our adversaries.”
Trump, meanwhile, maintained he doesn’t need approval from Congress to eliminate an agency or freeze funding approved by the legislative branch.
“I don’t think so. Not when it comes to fraud,” Trump told reporters on Monday. These people are lunatics, and if it comes to fraud, you wouldn’t have an act of Congress. I’m not sure you would anyway.”
USAID has an annual budget of more than $50 billion ― or less than 1% of the entire federal budget. It was established by Congress in 1961 and has been a key tool in U.S. foreign policy to combat the influence of adversaries across the globe, including China, Russia and Iran.
The disruption of funding at the agency has already halted aid programs that provide essential help to millions of people around the world, including those in need of food, health care, education and human rights.
Republican senators indicated on Monday that they support a review of USAID spending they believe to be wasteful while preserving the agency’s core functions.
“At the end the day, if you just shut down every program in there, I think it’s a mistake, and I think it’ll have policy and political consequences,” Senator Thom Tillis (Republican, North Carolina) told HuffPost.
Sen. John Cornyn (Republican, Texas) said he backed a review of USAID “to make sure that taxpayer dollars are going to programs and people that are consistent with our government’s policies.”
The Texas Republican acknowledged, however, that for the agency “to be absorbed into the State Department, it requires congressional action.”
Senator Lisa Murkowski (Republican, Alaska) noted USAID “does a lot of good around the world, particularly for women and girls.” The senator had questions about attempts to eliminate it, however.
“I think this is the question that we’re asking, is just, the legality?” she said.
One Republican senator, Jerry Moran of Kansas, warned the freeze in USAID programs threatened to spoil food assistance to poorer countries abroad.
“I urge [Rubio] to distribute the $340 million in American-grown food currently stalled in US ports to reach those in need,” Moran wrote in a post online.
“Time is running out before this life-saving aid perishes,” the senator added.
Democrats said Trump’s attempts to stifle federal agencies and cancel congressionally approved spending were directly related to his earlier firings of inspectors general from 18 federal agencies who were tasked with rooting out corruption and abuse in government.
“They got rid of the watchdogs, and then they stormed the building and got rid of the servers and the data,” Senator Brian Schatz (Democrat, Hawaii) said Monday, referring to Musk’s DOGE agents gaining access to sensitive servers with data on millions of Americans at USAID and other federal agencies.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (Deomcrat, New York) called DOGE “a shadow government without accountability or transparency or regard for the rule of law.”
“DOGE is not a real government agency. It has no authority to make spending decisions. It has no authority to shut programs down or to ignore federal law,” Schumer said.