 "Why Trump, Musk ‘shutting down’ USAID could be worrisome for India")
The Trump administration, it seems, is at war with one of the US’ very own agencies — the US Agency for International Development, popularly known as USAID.
US President Donald Trump and his First Buddy and Doge (Department of Government Efficiency) chief Elon Musk are making moves to eradicate USAID — first, by shutting down its website, then by asking employees to stay out of its Washington office, and lastly by announcing that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be the acting administrator of the agency despite it being an independent body for six decades.
With the possible dismantling of USAID, there are concerns not only in the US but also across the world, who are dependent on the organisation for aid. India is among those who depend on USAID for funding and some vital projects on healthcare in the country may be impacted owing to the turmoil at the USAID office.
We examine all of this.
What is USAID?
Founded in 1961, USAID is the international humanitarian and development arm of the U.S. government, assisting nations in conflict and other “strategically important countries” by alleviating poverty, disease and other crises, said a report by the Congressional Research Service.
Simply put, it offers humanitarian aid programmes on behalf of the US government around the world.
It was established by then-US President John F Kennedy as an independent organisation during the height of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. At the time, he wanted a more efficient way to counter Soviet influence abroad through foreign assistance and saw the State Department as frustratingly bureaucratic at doing that. As historian Corinna R Unger wrote in International Development: A Postwar History (2018), “During the Cold War, economic, technical, and military development aid gained enormous prominence as a foreign policy tool as the United States… entered into a competition with the Soviet Union.
…. “The programme was an attempt to fight communist tendencies in Latin America… with USAID responsible for coordinating the activities of the different organisations involved.”
Congress then passed the Foreign Assistance Act and Kennedy set up USAID as an independent agency in 1961.
Today, the Soviet Union no longer exists, Cold War has ended but USAID endures. It employs more than 10,000 people across the world and addresses a wide range of needs — from women’s health to clean water.
Jeremy Konyndyk, a former USAID official during the Obama and Biden administrations, described the agency’s work as urgent and told NBC News that gutting it would disrupt vital public health initiatives at US-funded clinics in other countries.
What’s going on now at USAID?
Signs of Trump’s administration dismantling USAID came on Saturday (February 1) when its website vanished without any explanation. Some browsers displayed the error message: “This site can’t be reached. Check if there is a typo in www.usaid.gov.” The agency’s account on X was also deleted.
This was followed up by Elon Musk on Sunday saying that the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) was in the process of “shutting down USAID,” with President Trump’s support.
When asked the same of Trump, the US president “It’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out, and then we’ll make a decision on its future,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews.
By Monday, USAID staff had received emails saying the agency’s Washington, DC headquarters was closed for the day and that they should work from home. “At the direction of agency leadership, the USAID headquarters at the Ronald Reagan building in Washington, DC will be closed to agency personnel on Monday, February 3, 2025. Agency personnel normally assigned to work at USAID headquarters will work remotely tomorrow, with the exception of personnel with essential on-site and building maintenance functions individually contacted by senior leadership,” said the email, as per a CNN report.
The same day, Elon Musk fired off several posts against USAID on X. One of them read, “Did you know that USAID, using your tax dollars, funded bioweapon research, including Covid-19, that killed millions of people?”
In another post, Musk called it “a radical-left political psy op” and a “crazy waste of money” and claimed, “USAID has been paying media organisations to publish their propaganda.”
Because USAID is/was a radical-left political psy op https://t.co/Th10uk7dQe
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
When some Democrats sought to enter the headquarters on Monday, they were blocked by officers from even broaching the lobby.
The final blow was delivered when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he had been put in charge of the aid agency, saying he would stop its “insubordination” to President Donald Trump’ agenda. He stated that USAID’s functions would continue but accused it of acting as if it were an “independent non-governmental entity”.
“In many cases, USAID is involved in programmes that run counter to what we’re trying to do with our national strategy,” he said, adding, “It’s been 20 or 30 years that people have tried to reform it.”
Why are Trump and Musk against USAID?
Trump and his ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk have trained their guns at USAID, stating that it was in line with their efforts to reduce spending and eliminate the perceived bloat within the US federal government.
USAID is a criminal organization.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 2, 2025
Time for it to die. https://t.co/sWYy6fyt1k
The US president has accused the agency’s members of fraud. But didn’t provide any further details. Musk, too, has accused the agency of fraud and corruption.
In a live stream on X early Monday, he told followers: “You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair. … We’re shutting it down.”
How dismantling USAID may hurt India?
USAID, as per government data, spent around $40 billion on aid programmes across the world in 2023. The vast majority of that money was spent in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Europe — primarily on humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
But with Trump looking to dismantle this agency, various countries will suffer, including India. A Times of India report stated that USAID has directed its partners working in India to halt projects. “The recipient shall not resume work under this agreement until notification has been received in writing from the Agreement Officer (USAID) that this award suspension has been cancelled,” read the directive.
Notably, the organisation has been working in India since 1951 and, as per an IANS report, during the current fiscal year India was to receive $140 million through USAID.
Until now, USAID has been working with the Indian government to address various health challenges including maternal and child mortality, tuberculosis (TB), HIV and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The US aid agency has helped save the lives of more than two million children in India since 1990. It has also prevented 25,000 pneumonia deaths as well as 14,000 diarhoea deaths. USAID has also extended its support to the Indian government by training health-care providers on TB.
Since 1995, USAID has also partnered with the Indian government and civil society on the prevention of HIV, and in the Covid-19 pandemic, it announced almost $13.1 million in funding to spread public health messages. It also donated 200 brand-new, state-of-the-art ventilators to India.
In the education sector too, USAID has lent support to India. An NDTV report explained that USAID and its partners work across 16 states to improve reading skills in nine languages. It also supports India’s literacy campaign ‘Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat’ (Read India, Progress India), reaching more than two million students.
It has also backed India’s Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan and also secured $5 million of funding for the same.
However, one official told Hindustan Times that USAID’s impact is limited in the country. “India will be able to tide over any cuts in US aid. We have stopped accepting aid that comes with too many conditions, though there has been cooperation with the US in some sectors because of the robust growth in the overall relationship.”
What about other countries?
But the impact of USAID being dissolved will be felt the most in sub-Saharan Africa. Its work there includes clearing landmines and containing the spread of Ebola in Africa. It will also impact the HIV/Aids programmes running in the continent.
It also will impact Latin America. As per an AP report, in Mexico, a busy shelter for migrants in southern Mexico has been left without a doctor. A programme to provide mental health support for LGBTQ+ youth fleeing Venezuela has been disbanded.
Aid workers across the world are still trying to piece together what would be the true and real impact of shuttering USAID. But they all believe that the effects would be catastrophic.
As Senator Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, told NBC News, “Dismantling USAID is illegal and makes us less safe. USAID was created by federal law and is funded by Congress. Donald Trump and Elon Musk can’t just wish it away with a stroke of a pen — they need to pass a law.”
With inputs from agencies
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