Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Congress that the US Agency for International Development may be subsumed into the State Department and abolished as a separate agency once his team completes a review of its practices, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg News.
Current foreign assistance processes “do not substantially benefit the American people,” Rubio wrote in the letter to the top lawmakers on the Senate and House of Representatives foreign affairs committees.
Rubio said USAID may reorganize and integrate some missions and bureaus into the State Department “and the remainder of the Agency may be abolished.
Here’s a snippet from the letter:
“In consultation with Congress, USAID may move, reorganize, and integrate certain missions, bureaus, and offices into the Department of State, and the remainder of the Agency may be abolished consistent with applicable law,”
“American foreign policy isn’t apolitical. American foreign policy is … to further the interest of the United States. If someone wants to spend apolitical dollars, they should spend private dollars.”
Rubio told the lawmakers that he had authorized Peter Marocco, the director of foreign assistance at the State Department, to also serve as deputy administrator at USAID — giving him the authority to “begin the process of engaging in a review and potential reorganization of USAID’s activities.”