Pete Marocco, Trump official who oversaw shutting down USAID, resigns, set for 'next mission'

A key US President Donald Trump administration official reportedly left the Department of State on Sunday. Pete Marocco, who played a major role in dismantling the US Agency for International Development (USAID) left the department this month, said a US official.

The newly formed Trump administration launched a major crackdown on USAID, firing nearly all the staff of the federal agency. Not only this, billionaire Elon Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” has slashed funding and dismissed contractors across the federal bureaucracy in what it calls an attack on wasteful spending.

“Pete was brought to state with a big mission – to conduct an exhaustive review of every dollar spent on foreign assistance. He conducted that historic task and exposed egregious abuses of taxpayer dollars,” a senior administration official told Reuters on the condition of anonymity. “We all expect big things are in store for Pete on his next mission,” the official added.

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Marocco may have been ‘pushed out’

Sources told Reuters that Marocco, the director of foreign assistance at the State Department, may have been “pushed out”. However, they did not provide further clarity on the matter. As per the report, Maracco was holding a “listening session” at the State Department with nearly two dozen experts on Thursday.

The official noted that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the future of foreign assistance and seek input. After returning to the Department of State, less than a month ago, Marocco laid out his plan in an internal mail to his staff. “I am going to return to my post as the Director of Foreign Assistance to bring value back to the American people," the Trump official wrote in the mail.

In the past, the American president has claimed without evidence that USAID was rife with fraud and run by “radical left lunatics". Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk falsely accused the body of operating as a “criminal” organisation.

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On Tuesday, the Trump administration moved to reinstate at least six recently cancelled US foreign aid programs for emergency food assistance. The move came as a quick reversal of a decision the administration made just days ago. The Trump administration has been cutting programs, restoring them and then cutting again, disrupting international humanitarian operations.

With inputs from Reuters.