State Department sends Congress letter saying it's taking over USAID
(NewsNation) — The State Department sent a letter Friday to Congress stating it will be taking over the functions of the United States Agency for International Development by July 1, 2025, effectively terminating all employees and closing the agency.
In a separate memo to employees of USAID, the State Department noted all positions not established by law will be eliminated. This 'Reduction-In-Force' will take place on one of two separation dates: July 1 or September 2, 2025.
NewsNation has obtained copies of both documents from a source familiar with USAID operations.
Employees of USAID were also asked to leave the office midday today, according to an employee NewsNation spoke with as they departed.
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The letter to Congress, written by Paul Guaglianone, senior bureau official in the Department of State's Bureau of Legislative Affairs, notes their intent is 'to undertake a reorganization that would involve realigning certain USAID functions to the Department by July 1, 2025, and discontinuing the remaining USAID functions that do not align with Administration priorities.'
The letter delineates that the five bureaus of USAID would be folded into the six regional bureaus of the Department of State and says global health programs, like the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, would be folded into State's Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy.
Both the memo and letter say the State Department will conduct a separate hiring process to fill its foreign assistance capacity, and USAID employees will be eligible to apply for those roles.
Jeremy Konyndyk, the current president of Refugees International and former USAID official, pushed back on the State Department's announcement, pointing out that closing USAID is illegal without congressional approval.
He told NewsNation that Secretary of State Marco Rubio 'is giving away the game here. He clearly does not intend any substantive consultation with Congress, much less a legislative reform package. He is trying to unlawfully circumvent Congress and daring them to stop him. Congress should push back hard against this effort to undermine its authority and Constitutional role.'
This comes on the same day that an earthquake struck Myanmar and Thailand. Department of State spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said that 'USAID has maintained a team of experts to provide immediate assistance.'
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When NewsNation asked the State Department who was going to be sent to support relief efforts, no response was provided.
Konyndyk said it was his understanding that the 'small unit that had been trying to cobble together support for this earthquake response' was told to leave the office by 1 p.m. ET.
He also said the bulk of staff who normally launch major disaster responses, the DART teams, had already gotten their termination notices and that the logistics contracts used to deploy relief flights and search-and-rescue teams were terminated in the DOGE cuts.
'I don't think Tammy Bruce has any idea what she's talking about. It's pretty hard to mount a disaster response without responders and supplies,' said Konyndyk.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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