US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Friday that he is handing over the final liquidation of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to Russ Vought, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, to oversee the dismantling of the embattled agency.
“I joked with President Donald Trump that I had four jobs, and he told me to give one to my friend Russ Vought. So I did,” Rubio wrote in a post on the Truth Social platform.
“Since last January, we have saved taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. With the transfer of a small group of core programs to the State Department, USAID has officially entered a liquidation phase,” he added. “Russ Vought is now taking the helm to oversee the liquidation of an agency that went off track a long time ago. Congratulations, Russ.”
Politico cited a senior White House official confirming that Vought has taken over as acting administrator of USAID. While the move will remove one role from Rubio – who is also acting national security adviser – it adds another responsibility to Vought’s expanding portfolio.
In addition to his new role leading USAID through its final liquidation, Vought already serves as director of the White House budget office, leads the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as its acting director, and was a key architect of Project 2025.
USAID was an early target of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on foreign aid, as outlined in an executive order he issued shortly after returning to office that directed a wholesale freeze of domestic and foreign assistance programmes.
Trump appointed Rubio as acting administrator of USAID early in the year as part of his efforts to control the agency’s operations. In March, Rubio announced a cut of 83% of the agency’s programmes, which provide vital water, food, and medical aid, dealing a final blow to the agency’s independent operations after they were systematically downsized by the Trump administration.
On 1 July, what remained of the agency’s structure was absorbed into the State Department.
Billions in aid funding targeted
Separately, Trump has asked Congress to rescind approximately $5bn in previously appropriated foreign aid spending, in a move that came as the fiscal year nears its end, potentially allowing him to cut the funds himself if lawmakers do not act by the end of September.
The manoeuvre challenges Congress’s spending powers and intensifies an ongoing confrontation over government funding, which is set to run out on 30 September. Democrats are insisting on guarantees that Trump will spend the money lawmakers approve in exchange for their votes to extend government funding, according to Bloomberg.
According to an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity, Trump sent a notification to Congress invoking a law that allows him to temporarily freeze the funds pending lawmakers’ decision. The New York Post first reported the news.
White House budget director Russ Vought describes the move as a “pocket rescission,” a rarely used manoeuvre that, if successful, could alter the balance of spending power within the federal government.
