Staffers and contractors who work with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were stunned and angered after President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – the government accountability unit headed by billionaire Elon Musk – effectively shut down the $40 billion agency on Monday.

One USAID staffer who wished to remain anonymous told Fox News Digital that 80% of staff across its bureaus learned they lost access to the agency’s systems on Monday morning, including travel, communications, classified information and databases – leading to questions about how to repatriate American citizens in some of the most dangerous places in the world should the need arise.

Staffers also feel they were ‘left high and dry’ and ‘have no idea what to do or where to turn’ after being ‘abandoned by Congress and the government,’ the source said, adding they felt the agency was ‘hostilely taken over by DOGE.’ 

‘The richest man in the world is taking this away from the poorest people in the world,’ the source said of Musk.

USAID was set up in the early 1960s to act on behalf of the U.S. to deliver aid across the globe, particularly in impoverished and underdeveloped regions. The Trump administration alleges that much of the spending has been wasteful, promoting a liberal agenda around the world. 

DOGE has particularly criticized a $1.5 million program slated to ‘advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities’ and a $70,000 program for a ‘DEI musical’ in Ireland.

Democrats counter that the agency plays a vital role in U.S. national security interests and say it should remain independent. They point to the work USAID did to counter Soviet influence during the Cold War – a sphere of influence that could remain a concern amid China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

‘It’s not a generosity project,’ the source said of USAID, ‘this is a national security agency and effort at its core’ that ‘protects borders and cuts threats off,’ such as working to contain Ebola and dispersing COVID vaccines to keep such threats outside the U.S.

Musk has said that both he and Trump ‘agreed’ that the agency should be ‘shut down.’ Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has been named acting director of the independent agency, on Monday echoed the sentiment, telling reporters, ‘USAID is not functioning.’

‘It needs to be aligned with the national interest of the U.S. They’re not a global charity, these are taxpayer dollars. People are asking simple questions. What are they doing with the money?’ Rubio continued. ‘We are spending taxpayers’ money. We owe the taxpayers assurances that it furthers our national interest.’

The scope of work overseen by USAID is vast and ranges from administering foreign aid through humanitarian efforts like famine relief, clean water distribution programs, and medical services, including administering polio vaccines, HIV/AIDS relief and prevention work. It also bolsters democracy, human rights and governance initiatives.

The source said the stop work order has left medications for HIV and even vaccines meant for distribution in overseas regions sitting on shelves, saying, ‘It has all stopped.’

Steve Schmida, who runs global consulting firm Resonance, which competes for contracts with USAID, told Fox News Digital that the shutdown is impacting contractors in the form of layoffs, furloughs and a reduction in hours. He also said the stop-work order has prevented his employees from getting paid for work they’ve already done.

Schmida said DOGE is ‘controlling payments’ by taking over the payment system. He accused the Musk-led agency of ‘intentionally defrauding us.’

‘If not stopped, it will spread to the rest of the government,’ Schmida said, adding that the Trump administration’s DOGE could use its takeover of the payment system as ‘a weapon against American citizens, denying Social Security and Medicare if they step out of line.’

Schmida said the foreign assistance community recognizes and shares the desire to reform the system, stating it ‘could work a lot better,’ though he urged the government to work toward improvement rather than the destruction of an agency whose work has been built up over seven decades.

Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.

Republican spending hawks in the House of Representatives are pushing their leaders to include at least $2.5 trillion in spending cuts in a massive piece of legislation intended to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Republicans held their weekly closed-door agenda meeting on Wednesday where they discussed a path forward via the budget reconciliation process. 

By lowering the threshold in the Senate from two-thirds to a simple majority – which the House already operates under – reconciliation allows the party in power to pass sweeping fiscal policy changes while skirting the opposition.

Several sources told Fox News Digital there was significant ‘frustration’ within the House GOP conference on Wednesday over a lack of a concrete final plan from Republican leadership. 

One GOP lawmaker said that tension bubbled up with several ‘heated exchanges,’ with conservatives demanding a concrete plan and minimum spending cuts at significantly higher levels than what was initially proposed.

‘I think there’s a lot of frustration right now,’ the lawmaker told Fox News Digital. ‘They’ve been trying to be inclusive, but not every open forum they’ve offered is giving members the ability to say, ‘I feel like people are listening to me,’ because I don’t know that’s the case right now.’

There’s also concern that the Senate, which is growing impatient with the House, could move forward with its own plan if the House doesn’t release one first – which House Republicans worry will include much shallower spending cuts than what could pass in the lower chamber.

‘What we’re worried about is losing the opportunity. I think we’re more likely to cut than they are,’ a second GOP lawmaker said.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham R-S.C., announced plans to move forward with the upper chamber’s own bill on Wednesday afternoon. He now plans to advance a measure through his committee next week.

A third House Republican said GOP lawmakers were fed up waiting for a ‘play call.’

But senior House GOP aides pushed back on the notion there was no play call, pointing out that Republican leaders held countless listening sessions culminating at the recent three-day House GOP retreat in Miami to consult members and emerge with a blueprint for a one-bill strategy that maintains scoring flexibility. The aides said the reconciliation process has had a 95% participation rate among House Republicans.

House GOP leaders were forced to delay a key vote on advancing a reconciliation bill through the House Budget Committee, the first step in the process, after spending hawks pushed back on initial proposals for spending cuts between $300 billion and $600 billion.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said on Tuesday night that it would likely be planned for next week, but that leaders’ final goal of having a bill on Trump’s desk in May remained unimpeded. 

Three sources told Fox News Digital that leaders are floating a plan that would include roughly $1.65 trillion as a baseline for spending cuts, though two people stressed they saw the figure as one of several tentative ideas rather than a final plan.

Two other sources said it would also include measures that lead to an additional $1.65 trillion in economic growth.

Republicans are trying to pass a broad swath of Trump policies via reconciliation, from more funding for border security to eliminating taxes on tips and overtime wages. Trump has also made clear that he views extending his Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 as vital to the process.

The tax cuts have proved a sticking point with some spending hawks, however, because several estimates show they could add upwards of $1 trillion to the federal deficit over 10 years if extended. Those spending hawks have said they support extending the tax cuts but are seeking deep funding rollbacks elsewhere to offset them.

Three people involved in the discussions also told Fox News Digital that House GOP leaders are considering extending the TCJA tax cuts by five years instead of 10 to mitigate those concerns.

Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Ralph Norman, R-S.C., two conservative members of the House Budget Committee, both told reporters they wanted to see the baseline for spending cuts set at roughly $2.5 trillion.

Roy told reporters that $2.5 trillion would amount to roughly $250 billion per year in federal savings over 10 years – while pointing out the U.S. was currently running a $36 trillion national debt.

House GOP leaders vowed to seek $2.5 trillion in spending cuts back in December, to get conservatives on board with a bill averting a partial government shutdown.

‘They said $2.5 trillion of cuts. So, deliver. That will unlock the door,’ Roy said.

Norman told reporters multiple times this week that he wants between $2 trillion and $3 trillion in cuts.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has recently become the target of Elon Musk’s DOGE efforts to slash government waste and spending, bringing increased scrutiny to the record of Samantha Power, the agency’s administrator during almost the entire Biden administration.

Power, who previously served as the United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2013 to 2017 in the Obama administration after serving on his National Security Council, took the reins of USAID in the early days of the Biden administration and was tasked with overseeing the tens of billions of dollars budgeted for foreign aid. 

‘One of the most pressing challenges facing our nation is restoring and strengthening America’s global leadership as a champion of democracy, human rights, and the dignity of all people,’ then-Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said in a statement at the time of Power’s appointment. ‘Few Americans are better equipped to help lead that work than Ambassador Samantha Power.’

Power was directly involved in the Obama administration’s surveillance of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and sought to obtain Michael Flynn’s redacted identity using an ‘unmasking’ request on at least seven occasions, Fox News Digital previously reported, despite testifying under oath before the House Intelligence Committee that she had ‘no recollection’ of ever making such a request even once.

Fox News reported in 2017 that Power was ‘unmasking’ at such a rapid pace in the final months of the Obama administration that she averaged more than one request for every working day in 2016, and she even sought information in the days leading up to President Trump’s inauguration, according to multiple sources close to the matter.

Power’s tenure at USAID was also not without controversy, even from her own party, including an incident in which she faced a public revolt from current and former staff in 2024 over her support of Israel.

Critics also took issue with her repeatedly meeting with influential liberal foundations while serving in her role at USAID, which Fox News Digital reported in 2023, included George Soros’ Open Society Foundations at least two times, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at least five times, and meetings with several other powerful groups like Ford and Rockefeller foundations. 

Power’s supporters say she has played a critical role in providing U.S. assistance to war-torn areas like Ukraine and Gaza along with aiding the relief of humanitarian crises that have developed in places like Haiti, Armenia and Sudan. 

‘The best testament to USAID’s contribution is the surge in PRC-backed and Russian-backed propaganda maligning USAID and our work around the world,’ Power said in an exit interview with Politico last month. ‘And it’s really picked up a lot over the last year and a half. We counted 81 malicious and false propaganda campaigns, really dedicated campaigns, aimed at denigrating USAID and our reputation. So we’re doing something that is getting on their nerves.’

Power, who is married to former Obama administration official and professor Cass Sunstein, added, ‘We are an agency that has thousands of people around the world representing the United States, both because it’s in the interests of the American people to have health systems that are more secure and can spot infectious diseases and tackle them, to change regulations so it’s easier for American businesses to invest, but also to show up and to show the importance of investing in the partnership — and not investing in a manner that just leaves countries saddled with debt.’

USAID has been increasingly questioned by Republicans over its alleged funding of research relating to the coronavirus at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, as well as millions in aid that supports LGBT rights abroad and dozens of millions of dollars for migrant crises in other countries, like the nearly $45 million slated to provide emergency food assistance and economic support for Venezuelan migrants in Colombia.

Democrats counter that the agency plays a vital role in U.S. national security interests and say it should remain independent. They point to the work USAID did to counter Soviet influence during the Cold War, a sphere of influence that could remain a concern amid China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Tech billionaire and DOGE Chair Elon Musk has been on a warpath against USAID, which is an independent U.S. agency that was established under the Kennedy administration to administer economic aid to foreign nations, as he leads DOGE’s mission of cutting government fat and overspending at the federal level. 

Musk announced in an audio-only message on X over the weekend that ‘we’re in the process’ of ‘shutting down USAID.’

‘On Friday, February 7, 2025, at 11:59 pm (EST) all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs,’ USAID’s website currently says. ‘Essential personnel expected to continue working will be informed by Agency leadership by Thursday, February 6, at 3:00pm (EST).’

A Fox News Digital review of USAID’s recent history shows that it has repeatedly been accused of financial mismanagement and corruption long before Trump’s second administration, with spending that took place under Power’s reign likely to continue to be a focus of conversation with Republicans.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., sent a letter to Power in October 2024, sounding the alarm on the ‘likely misuse of more than one billion dollars in U.S. humanitarian aid sent to Gaza since October 2023,’ Fox Digital reported at the time. 

A Syrian national named Mahmoud Al Hafyan, 53, was charged in November 2024 for allegedly diverting more than $9 million in U.S.-funded humanitarian aid to terrorist groups, including the Al-Nusrah Front. The Al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, is a designated terrorist organization with ties to al-Qaeda, according to the State Department.

The Government Accountability Office published a report in 2023 finding that both USAID and the National Institutes of Health directed taxpayer funds to American universities and a nonprofit organization before the money found its way to Chinese groups, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Eight auditors and employees for the USAID inspector general’s office sounded the alarm to the Washington Post in 2014 that negative findings surrounding the agency’s work were removed from final reports and audits.

Trump repeatedly proposed slashing the nation’s foreign aid budget for USAID and the State Department during his first administration, including proposing in his first year in office to slash the budgets by 37%, which Congress rejected. 

‘With $20 trillion in debt, the government must learn to tighten its belt,’ Trump said in 2017 while advocating for the cuts.

Power sat down with late-night host Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night and defended USAID’s work and warned against shutting it down, claiming that children overseas in line for tuberculosis treatment were told to go home as a result of Trump’s executive order.

‘Programs that were running, the people we’re depending on, in some cases, for life-saving medicine, like medicine, if you have HIV, that keeps you alive, quite literally,’ Power told Colbert. ‘Or if you’re in Sudan and you have a child who’s wasting away because of malnutrition, a miracle paste, a peanut paste that USAID provides brings that kid back from the brink of death. All of those programs are shuttered.’

Democrat lawmakers took part in a rally against DOGE on Tuesday outside the Treasury Department, arguing that Musk’s actions are unconstitutional and a threat to Democracy. 

‘My heart is with the people out on the street outside USAID, but my head tells me, ‘Man, Trump will be well satisfied to have this fight,’’ veteran strategist David Axelrod, who served with Power in the Obama administration, said this week. ‘When you talk about cuts, the first thing people say is: Cut foreign aid.’

Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFall, Emma Colton and Gregg Re contributed to this report

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is refusing to attend the Group of 20 (G-20) summit in Johannesburg this year, in protest of the South African government’s controversial land seizure bill.

The bill, which was signed last week, permits South African authorities to expropriate land ‘for a public purpose or in the public interest,’ promising ‘just and equitable compensation’ to those impacted by the bill. Although the majority of South African citizens are Black, most landowners are White — and this disparity has been a topic in South Africa for years.

The law also allows expropriation of land without compensation, but only in circumstances where it is ‘just and equitable and in the public interest.’

The G-20 summit is scheduled to kick off on Nov. 22 — but in a social media post on Wednesday, Rubio wrote definitively that he ‘will NOT’ be there.

‘South Africa is doing very bad things,’ Rubio’s X post read. ‘Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote ‘solidarity, equality, & sustainability.”

‘In other words: DEI and climate change,’ the Republican added. ‘My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.’

President Donald Trump‘s administration has been vocally critical of the land seizure bill. In a Truth Social post, Trump called the situation a ‘massive Human Rights VIOLATION, at a minimum.’

‘It is a bad situation that the Radical Left Media doesn’t want to so much as mention,’ Trump wrote in a post. ‘The United States won’t stand for it, we will act. Also, I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!’

The South African government has coolly responded to the Trump administration’s accusations, denying that any unjust confiscation has occurred.

‘We look forward to engaging with the Trump administration over our land reform policy and issues of bilateral interest,’ South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement. ‘We are certain that out of those engagements, we will share a better and common understanding over these matters’.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, South African analyst Frans Cronje proposed that Trump alluded to the ongoing killing of farmers in South Africa when he talked about certain classes of people being treated ‘very badly.’ The attacks have been perpetuated against both White and Black farmers.

‘President Trump’s recent comments on land seizures in South Africa cannot be divorced from his past comments on violent attacks directed at the country’s farmers,’ Cronje said. ‘Whilst these comments have often been dismissed as false, the latest South African data suggests that the country’s commercial farmers are six times more likely to be violently attacked in their homes than is the case for the general population.’ 

Fox News Digital’s Paul Tisley contributed to this report.