By Admin
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Trump administration is moving to strip a slimmed-down U.S. Agency for International Development of its independence and put it under State Department control, two sources familiar with the discussions said on Friday, in what would be a significant overhaul of how Washington allocates U.S. foreign aid.
The National Security Council hosted discussions this week on the topic, a person familiar with the matter said. A U.S. official confirmed there have been discussions about such a move but said no final decisions had been made.
The administration last week froze U.S. foreign aid, saying it is conducting a review to ensure the tens of billions of dollars worth of such assistance worldwide is aligned with President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy and not a waste of taxpayer money.
One source said the White House was exploring legal authorities that Trump could use to issue an executive order to end USAID’s independence and that he could sign such a directive as soon as Friday night or Saturday.
“Watch USAID tonight,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a post on X on Friday evening.
It was unclear if Trump has the legal authority to bypass Congress and order USAID’s merger into the State Department.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, citing a “rumor” that Trump planned to dissolve USAID as an independent agency, said in an X post that such a move would be “illegal and against our national interests.”