Elon Musk and President Donald Trump shut down the embattled government agency tasked with humanitarian relief overseas after they agreed the organization was 'beyond repair'.
The billionaire 'first buddy' led a civilian review of the federal government with Trump's go-ahead and decided this week to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Staff were shocked when they woke up Monday morning to emails instructing them to stay out of the agency's D.C. headquarters.
'It became apparent that it's not an apple with a worm it in,' Musk said of the six-decade U.S. international aid and development agency. 'What we have is just a ball of worms. You've got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It's beyond repair.'
'We're shutting it down,' he said in the audio-only appearance on X.
The Tesla and SpaceX boss noted in the announcement on his social media site that he spoke with Trump about the agency and they 'agreed we should shut it down.'
As of 2016, USAID reported that it had 10,235 employees on its payroll.
It managed more than $40 billion in appropriations in Fiscal Year 2023, which is less than 1 percent of the federal budget. USAID provides development and assistance in about 130 countries with these funds.
For this fiscal year, the President's budget request was $28.3 billion in foreign assistance.
USAID staffers said they tracked 600 employees who reported being locked out of the agency's computer systems overnight.
Those still in the system received messages to their work emails saying 'at the direction of Agency leadership' the headquarters building 'will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, Feb. 3.'
Elon Musk (left) shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on Monday with the approval of President Donald Trump (right)
USAID staff received an email Monday morning instructing them to stay out of the agency's Washington headquarters. There are reportedly 600 employees who were locked out of USAID's computer systems overnight. Pictured: The USAID building in D.C. on February 1, 2025
'USAID is a criminal organization,' Musk, the billionaire owner of Tesla and SpaceX who has become the president's most powerful backer, wrote on his X platform without providing any evidence adding 'Time for it to die'.
Copies of the email show that replies were sent to Gavin Kliger, one of the six young engineers working for Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which appears to be operating under the White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
The website for USAID was also shutdown as of Monday morning.
The official government website for USAID and any former links for the site's webpages now shows a browser error message: 'This site can't be reached.'
The message comes after the Trump administration placed two top security chiefs at USAID on leave after they refused to turn over classified material in restricted areas to Musk's government-inspection teams, an U.S. official revealed on Sunday.
Members of DOGE eventually did gain access Saturday to the aid agency's classified information, which includes intelligence reports, the former official said.
Musk's DOGE crew lacked high enough security clearance to access that information, so the two USAID security officials - John Voorhees and deputy Brian McGill - believed themselves legally obligated to deny access.
The current and former US officials had knowledge of the incident and spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information.
Musk previewed the shut down earlier on Sunday when he attacked the agency in a post to X after Trump claimed it was 'run by radical lunatics.'
'USAID is a criminal organization,' Musk, who has become the president's most powerful backer, wrote without providing evidence or proof of why he makes the claim.
He added, 'Time for it to die' – and followed that up with multiple additional posts about the agency.
In one subsequent post, Musk doubled down and asked his 215 million followers: 'Did you know that USAID, using YOUR tax dollars, funded bioweapon research, including COVID-19, that killed millions of people?'
He did not elaborate on the allegations, which included a report claiming officials in the previous administration had links to a Russian disinformation campaign.
Trump attacked the agency over the weekend, claiming it has 'been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we're getting them out... and then we'll make a decision (on its future).'
The president underscored his support for Musk, telling reporters on Sunday night he felt the billionaire was 'doing a good job' even if they did not agree on every point.
Trump suggested that Musk wants to go even further with cost-cutting efforts, but says he has to holds his buddy back on some of his more ambitious ideas.
'He's a big cost-cutter,' Trump said. 'Sometimes we won't agree with it or we'll not go where he wants to go...he's a smart guy. Very smart. And he's very much into cutting the budget of our federal government.'
Musk (pictured on January 20) called the U.S. Agency for International Development a 'criminal organization' - as Trump said the agency was 'run by radical lunatics'
The official government website USAID.gov was shut down as of Monday morning with the browser exhibiting an error message for all USAID URLs
Trump (pictured with Musk in October last year) underscored his support for the tech billionaire, telling reporters on Sunday night he felt the billionaire was 'doing a good job' even if they did not agree on every point
The criticism from Musk follows more than a week of mayhem inside USAID, Washington's primary agency funding life-saving aid globally.
Trump ordered a freeze on almost all U.S. foreign aid for three months, saying his administration will review spending to ensure money is distributed in line with his 'America First' foreign policy.
Though he subsequently issued waivers to continue food and other humanitarian assistance, aid workers say uncertainty remains as the future of the organization is far from assured.
A senior official from a U.S.-based group feared that the prioritization of 'emergency' assistance was part of a broader plan in which Washington would discontinue funds for anything else.
Former Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said the dismantling of USAID 'will cost untold lives around the world, devastate America's standing, and massively empower China and other countries.'
He added: 'There's no excusing it - it's a shameful, stupid, self-own without excuse and a harbinger of even worse to come.'
USAID humanitarian aid destined for Venezuela is displayed for the media at a warehouse next to the Tienditas International Bridge on the outskirts of Cucuta, Colombia, Feb. 19, 2019
Musk posted a series of tweets on Sunday targeting USAID
There have been reports Trump wants to roll USAID into the State Department.
Since Trump's inauguration Musk has addressed far-right groups in Europe, given an infamous raised-arm gesture compared to a Nazi salute, and attacked the Treasury for making authorized payments on the government's behalf.
DOGE was founded as part of the so-called 'executive office of the president,' as a temporary 18-month organization under the repurposed United States Digital Service.
It does not enjoy full status as a government department, which would require the approval of Congress, and Musk is neither federal employee nor a government official. It is unclear to whom DOGE is accountable.
CNN reported that two senior security officials at USAID were put on forced leave after they barred staff from Musk's DOGE from accessing classified documents as part of their sprawling effort to inspect the government's books.
The two DOGE representatives also wanted to access staff files and security systems at USAID's headquarters, the broadcaster reported, citing multiple sources.
Nearly 30 career staff in the agency's Legislative and Public Affairs bureau lost access overnight to their emails, at least five sources said, bringing the total number of senior USAID career staff who have been put on leave over the past week close to 100.
'DOGE did access the building yesterday,' a senior Senate Democratic aide said, requesting anonymity to discuss the incident. USAID security officers tried to turn away DOGE personnel without security clearances.
'They (security personnel) were threatened with action by the federal Marshals Service,' the aide said.
DOGE is headquartered in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington D.C. and appears to be working closely with or underneath the umbrella of the White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
Following the incident, the director of USAID security, John Voorhees, and his deputy Brian McGill were removed from their positions and put on leave, sources said.
The pair believed themselves legally obligated to deny access. PBS also reported that DOGE staff attempted to gain access to 'secure spaces.'
There was no record of what information DOGE officials were able to obtain in those areas, but the offices they accessed included classified files and personal information about Americans who work at USAID, the sources said.
Katie Miller, a DOGE spokesperson, said on social media platform X that no classified material was accessed without proper security clearances.
Matt Hopson, who had just been appointed as USAID chief of staff by the Trump administration, has resigned, five sources familiar with the matter said. A congressional source said his resignation followed the incident with DOGE officials.
Steven Cheung, a senior aide to Trump, posted on X that the PBS report was 'legitimately FAKE NEWS. Not even remotely true at all. This is how unserious and untrustworthy the media is.'
USAID's account on X has been disabled and the USAID website has been down since Saturday afternoon.
The US is by far the world's largest donor of humanitarian aid, with USAID administering billions of dollars in humanitarian, development and security assistance in more than 100 countries.
USAID funding goes to programs on everything from women's health in conflict zones to access to clean water, HIV/AIDS treatments, energy security and anti-corruption work.
USAID, an independent agency established by an act of Congress, manages a budget of $42.8 billion meant for humanitarian relief and development assistance around the world
USAID funding supports HIV clinics in Africa - like the one pictured above in South Africa
It comes after DOGE carried out a similar operation at the Treasury Department gaining access to sensitive information including the Social Security and Medicare customer payment systems.
The system is run by non-political career civil servants and controls trillions of dollars of government funds that go to programs like Social Security and Medicare. Any interruption in its operation would spark widespread economic failure.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Musk's DOGE the green light to have full access to the payments system late on Friday.
It was not immediately clear why Musk wants access to the system, which handles around $5trillion annually, but it could provide the Trump administration another means to target wasteful spending.
A senior Treasury official resigned over Musk's team accessing sensitive information.
