Musk says administration is on verge of shutting USAID

Washington — The U.S. Agency for International Development is on the cusp of being shuttered, according the Trump administration’s billionaire adviser and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who’s been wrestling for control of the agency in recent days.

Early Monday, Musk held a live session on X Spaces, previously known as Twitter Spaces, and said he’d spoken in detail about USAID with President Trump. “He agreed we should shut it down,” Musk said.

“It became apparent that its not an apple with a worm it in,” Musk said. “What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair. … We’re shutting it down.”

USAID staffers were instructed to stay out of the agency’s Washington headquarters on Monday, according to a notice distributed to them. Staffers said they tracked 600 employees who reported being locked out of the agency’s computer systems overnight. Those still in the system received emails saying that “at the direction of Agency leadership” the headquarters building “will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, Feb. 3.” 

Musk’s comments in the X Spaces session came after the administration placed two top security chiefs at USAID on leave. USAID Director for Security John Vorhees and Deputy Director for Security Brian McGill were put on leave Saturday night, two sources confirmed to CBS News.

A current and a former U.S. official told The Associated Press on Sunday that the move came after the two USAID officials refused to allow personnel from the Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to access classified material in restricted areas.

Musk’s DOGE crew lacked high enough security clearance to access that information, so the two USAID officials believed themselves legally obligated to deny access, the AP reported.

DOGE personnel did eventually gain access Saturday to the aid agency’s classified information, which includes intelligence reports, the former official told the AP.

Kate Miller, who serves on an advisory board for DOGE,  didn’t respond to requests for comment but did repost the AP article on X with the comment, “No classified material was accessed without proper security clearances.”  

The current and former U.S. officials had knowledge of the incident and spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to share the information.

Musk on Sunday responded to an X post about the news by saying, “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die.” He followed with additional posts on X about the aid agency.

This comes a day after DOGE carried out a similar operation at the Treasury Department, gaining access to sensitive information including the Social Security and Medicare customer payment systems. The Washington Post reported that a senior Treasury official had resigned over Musk’s team accessing sensitive information.

Musk formed DOGE in cooperation with the Trump administration with the stated goal of finding ways to fire federal workers, cut programs and slash federal regulations.

USAID, whose website vanished Saturday without explanation, has been one of the federal agencies most targeted by the Trump administration in an escalating crackdown on the federal government and many of its programs.

“It’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics. And we’re getting them out,” Mr. Trump remarked to reporters about USAID on Sunday night.

The Trump administration and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have imposed an unprecedented freeze on foreign assistance that has shut down much of the USAID humanitarian, development and security programs worldwide – compelling thousands of layoffs by aid organizations – and ordered furloughs and leaves that have gutted the agency’s leadership and staff in Washington.

The U.S. is by far the world’s largest donor of humanitarian aid, with USAID administering billions of dollars in humanitarian, development and security assistance in more than 100 countries.

Peter Marocco, a returning political appointee from Mr. Trump’s first term, was a leader in enforcing the shutdown. USAID staffers say they believe agency outsiders with visitors badges asking questions of employees inside the Washington headquarters are members of Musk’s DOGE team.

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in a post on Sunday that the president was letting Musk access people’s personal information and shut down government funding.

“We must do everything in our power to push back and protect people from harm,” the Massachusetts senator said, without giving details.