WASHINGTON

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that he is serving as the acting director of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) after billionaire Elon Musk claimed that President Donald Trump had agreed to shut down the aid agency.

Speaking to reporters in El Salvador, Rubio criticized USAID for being "completely unresponsive" and expressed concern over reports that agency employees were unwilling to cooperate with officials "who are asking simple questions."

“My frustration with USAID goes back to my time in Congress. It's a completely unresponsive agency. It's supposed to respond to policy directives of the State Department, and it refuses to do so,” he said.

Rubio emphasized that USAID must operate within the national interest of the US rather than acting as an independent global charity.

“There are a lot of functions of USAID that are going to continue. They’re going to be part of American foreign policy, but [the agency] has to be aligned with American foreign policy,” he said. “USAID has a history of sort of ignoring that and deciding that they're somehow a global charity, separate from the national entities or taxpayer dollars.”

“I’m very troubled by these reports that they’ve been unwilling to cooperate with people who are asking simple questions,” he said. “That sort of level of insubordination makes it impossible to conduct a serious review… We owe the American people the assurances that every dollar we are spending abroad is being spent on something that furthers our national interest.”

Musk had claimed in a social media post Monday that Trump had agreed to dismantle USAID, but neither Trump nor the White House has publicly confirmed the claim.

Security standoff at USAID headquarters

The announcement follows reports that two top security officials at USAID were placed on administrative leave after refusing to grant access to personnel from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—a newly created office under Musk’s oversight.

According to CNN, DOGE personnel attempted to access security systems, personnel files, and classified information at USAID headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Saturday night but were stopped. Two sources said DOGE personnel threatened to call US Marshals to gain entry.

USAID Director of Security John Voorhees and his deputy are among dozens of officials reportedly placed on leave.

Following the report, Musk accused USAID of being “a criminal organization,” writing on X that it was “time for it to die.” He also called the agency “evil” and a “viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America.”

On Saturday, USAID’s website went offline, and its official X and Instagram accounts were taken down.

Trump’s foreign aid freeze and USAID purge

The recent actions against USAID come after Trump issued an executive order last month halting all foreign aid for 90 days. On Jan. 30, Rubio approved exemptions for “life-saving humanitarian assistance.”

Around 60 senior USAID officials were reportedly placed on leave last week over allegations that they attempted to bypass the executive order on foreign aid.

In fiscal year 2023, USAID managed over $40 billion in federal spending—less than 1% of the total federal budget—funding aid projects in around 130 countries, including Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria.