Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday that he is acting director of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Rubio told reporters that he has “delegated that authority to someone, but I stay in touch with him,” without providing specifics. The acting USAID administrator had previously been Jason Gray. CNN has asked the State Department if this is the person Rubio referenced.
While in El Salvador on his trip to Central America, Rubio argued that USAID is “a completely unresponsive agency.”
Still, when asked about the arguments of USAID’s vital work in national security, Rubio said, “there are things that USAID, that we do through USAID, that we should continue to do, and we will continue to do.”
Some context: It comes after Elon Musk, the world’s richest man charged with overhauling the federal government, said President Donald Trump had signed off on shutting the agency down.
Lawmakers and aid workers have been bracing for Trump to shut down the agency entirely and place it under the umbrella of the State Department.
In Washington, USAID’s headquarters was closed for the day, with employees told in an email to remain at home. Over the weekend, two top security officials at USAID were put on administrative leave for refusing members of the Department of Government Efficiency access to systems at the agency, even when DOGE personnel threatened to call law enforcement, multiple sources familiar with the situation told CNN.
The DOGE personnel wanted to gain access to USAID security systems and personnel files, three sources said. Two of those sources also said the DOGE personnel wanted access to classified information, which only those with security clearances and a specific need to know are able to access.
This post has been updated with comments from Rubio and additional background.
