Washington:
US State Secretary Marco Rubio on Monday kept the door open for the US agency for International Development (USAID) to stay in business or not to continue and close his programs, as stated by Elon Musk in the first day.
Rubio said that the agency needs to improve itself and align itself with the policies and priorities of the administration and state department and does not operate independently of them.
“It’s not about ending the programs that do USAIDs, from per,” Rubio asked reporters at Lalvador.
“There are things that do that it is good, and there are things that we have strong questions. It is about how to operate as a unit. And they are going to take direction from the state department, policy direction. They do not, do not take policy direction. They are completely non -cooperatives, ”he said.
“The attitude that USAID has adopted over the years is, no, we are independent of national interest. We fund those programs, whether it is aligned with foreign policy or not. It is ridiculous. These are taxpayers dollars. Every money we spend in foreign aid, there is a need to pursue it and form an alliance with national interest in the national and US foreign policy, ”he said.
Elon Musk put the fate of USAID in the early hours of Monday as the head of the government’s efficiency department (DOGE) department. Musk said on X about his discussion with President Donald Trump about the agency, “I went into detail with him, and he agreed that we should shut down it.”
“And I really checked with him (and) said ‘Are you sure?”
“The answer was yes,” he said. “And so we are shutting down it.”
Usaid, which was established in the 1960s, is an autonomous body of the state department that is one of the world’s largest official support agencies and an account for more than half of American foreign aid.
Musk also called the agency a “criminal”.
President Trump has not yet publicly weighed Musk’s comments, but his colleagues have made it clear that the administration will take an American first path on every issue and State Secretary Marco Rubio in his first public comment in American diplomacy in his first public comment Emphasized the importance of theory again. In the State Department for taking charge.
On Saturday, two top USAID officials were removed from the office to block the officials of the Musk-Headed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by reaching the room and floor at the USAID headquarters at Washington DC. Dogi officials finally had their own way.
USAID workers at the headquarters were told in an email that the agency would be closed on Monday. “Agency personnel are usually assigned to work at USAID headquarters, will work remotely … required by senior leadership with the exception of personnel with the required on-site and building maintenance work Gaya, “He was told in an email.
The agency has a long history of development work and partnership between many other countries in India. A stored webpage of the agency since 2021 said, “In recent years, USAID established 34 public-private partnership, which takes advantage of $ 380 million in additional financial resources.”
(Tagstotransite) Marco Rubio (T) USAID
