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Investing.com-- Elon Musk said on Monday he is working to shut down U.S. foreign aid agency USAID as part of his role in President Donald Trump’s efforts to shrink the federal government deficit.
Musk, who was appointed as the head of Trump’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), flagged his plans to stop the USAID program during a panel on social media site X, which he also owns.
The discussion also included DOGE co-head Vivek Ramaswamy, Republican Senator Joni Ernst, and Republican Senator Mike Lee.
Musk- the world’s richest man- outlined his plans for USAID in a wide-ranging discussion over deregulation and scaling back what he sees as government overreach in various aspects of administration. His main point of contention with USAID is that the funds used by the agency can be deployed domestically.
USAID is the world’s biggest provider of foreign aid, having disbursed over $70 billion in assistance worldwide in 2023. The agency has missions in over 100 countries, primarily in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Trump had in January ordered a near-total freeze on all foreign aid, although Secretary of State Marco Rubio had then issued a waiver for humanitarian aid.
Reuters reported over the weekend that representatives from DOGE had attempted to gain access to restricted parts of a USAID facility, and that the Trump administration had removed two top security officials over their attempts to stop the DOGE representatives.
Musk had initially claimed that DOGE will be able to erase about $2 trillion from the federal deficit, although he has since tempered his goals to $1 trillion in the next two years.
While DOGE claims to be working closely with the President and Congress, it is still unclear just how much actual authority the agency has within the government.