Rubio Announces 83% Of USAID Programs Cancelled, Musk Calls Move ‘Tough, But Necessary’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday that 83% of programs at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) are being cancelled following a six week review.

“The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States,” Rubio announced on X.

The remaining 18%, around 1,000 programs, will be administered “more effectively” by the State Department, according to Rubio.

“Thank you to DOGE and our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform,” Rubio added.

Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk called the cuts “tough, but necessary.”

“The important parts of USAID should always have been with Dept of State,” Musk said.

In February a State Department source told The Daily Wire that a Rubio-led review of grants and awards at the State Department and USAID resulted in $60 billion in savings for taxpayers.

“The State Department evaluated over 9,100 grants worth over $15.9 billion,” an internal government document obtained by The Daily Wire reads. “At the conclusion of an exhaustive review led by career FSOs and reviewed by senior political leadership, including the Secretary, over 4,100 grants worth nearly $4.4 billion were identified for elimination — a 28 percent reduction in total grant value over the course of the 15-day review.”

Rubio was named Acting Administrator for the USAID last month following scrutiny of the organization led by Musk.

In a statement, Rubio’s press team accused USAID of straying from “its original mission of responsibly advancing American interests abroad,” adding that “it is now abundantly clear that significant portions of USAID funding are not aligned with the core national interests of the United States.”

USAID, created in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, gives tens of billions of dollars in civilian aid and development assistance to foreign countries each year. USAID had been separate from the State Department until Rubio’s appointment.