Washington. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday that the Trump administration had completed its six-week purge of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), eliminating 83 percent of its programs. The remaining 18 percent will be transferred under the State Department.

Rubio made the announcement in a post on X, marking one of his few public comments on what has been a historic shift away from US foreign aid and development. The overhaul was led by Trump political appointees at the State Department and teams from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Rubio thanked DOGE and "our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform" in foreign aid.

On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump issued an executive order freezing foreign assistance funding and mandating a review of all US aid and development programs, which total in the tens of billions of dollars. Trump argued that much of the spending was wasteful and advanced a liberal agenda.

Rubio’s post stated that the review had "officially ended," resulting in the termination of approximately 5,200 out of USAID’s 6,200 programs.

"These programs 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 wrote.

He added that the remaining 18 percent of programs would be administered "more effectively" under the State Department, pending consultation with Congress. However, Democratic lawmakers argue that shutting down congressionally funded programs without legislative approval is illegal.

The Trump administration has provided little detail on which aid and development programs were spared, even as it mass-emailed contract terminations to aid groups earlier this month. Critics question whether a thorough program-by-program review was conducted before the cuts.

Aid groups report that even some life-saving programs, such as emergency nutritional support for starving children and drinking water for displaced families in Sudan, received termination notices—despite previous assurances that they would be spared.

Republicans have signaled support for a more restrictive approach to foreign aid, aligning assistance strictly with their interpretation of US national interests.

The State Department, facing multiple lawsuits over the rapid shutdown, previously stated that more than 90 percent of USAID programs had been eliminated. Rubio did not explain the discrepancy between that figure and his own.

The dismantling of USAID marks a departure from decades of policy that viewed humanitarian and development aid as key to US national security—stabilizing regions, strengthening alliances, and fostering goodwill.

Following Trump’s executive order, his appointees, including Pete Marocco and Musk, removed USAID staff worldwide through forced leaves and firings, halted payments, and abruptly terminated thousands of contracts. Programs addressing epidemic control, famine prevention, job training, and democracy promotion came to a standstill.

As a result, aid groups and USAID partners have laid off tens of thousands of workers in the US and abroad. Lawsuits allege that the sudden shutdown left businesses and organizations owed billions of dollars in unpaid contracts.

The fallout has also stranded many USAID staffers and contractors overseas, some still awaiting back pay and US-funded travel back home.

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