President Trump, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE,) and the Trump administration as a whole are doing great work whittling away at the federal workforce. But a permanent fix to the problem of feather-bedding in the federal government will require a statutory solution, which means Congress has to get involved. That may be starting; Representative Greg Steube (R-FL) has introduced a bill to abolish the embattled United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
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I’ve seen enough. The Trump admin was right to suspend aid — I’m taking it a step further.
I just introduced a bill to shut down USAID for good. No more taxpayer dollars wasted on corrupt regimes, far-left agendas, and ineffective programs.⁰⁰Read more: https://t.co/cX5CFvD0tZ pic.twitter.com/74bFYwnWoa
— Congressman Greg Steube (@RepGregSteube) February 6, 2025
Another Republican representative, Thomas Massie (R-KY), has co-sponsored the bill and presented the simple two-page work on his official X account.
I just cosponsored @RepGregSteube‘s bill to abolish the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
USAID sends billions of American tax dollars overseas. When it spends at home, it’s subsidizing subscriptions to left-leaning outlets like @politico.
End USAID. pic.twitter.com/8RV4kBGiEp
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 6, 2025
The bill states in part:
Beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, no Federal funds may be made available to carry out any of the functions, duties, or responsibilities assigned or delegated to the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development pursuant to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) or any other provision of law.
Short and simple: Yank their funding and shut their doors. That’s how it should be done.
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There is, of course, no constitutional justification for USAID to exist. That’s an argument we’re not seeing made a lot right now, but it sure seems like that would be the best argument for shuttering agencies like this: There is no enumerated power of the executive branch justifying the existence of USAID; the 10th amendment, therefore, prohibits it.
Even without that, the more information that comes to light from the wastefulness of the USAID organization, the more reasons Congress has to pull the plug permanently. Start with USAID and move on to entire cabinet agencies that shouldn’t exist: Education, Energy, Environment, Commerce, and more. We have a long way to go to return Washington to its constitutionally mandated level, but any step in that direction is a good one. Of course, this is early on; it remains to be seen if this bill grows any legs.
See Related: NEW: Sen. Kennedy Decimates Dems and USAID on Senate Floor With Shocking Details
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President Trump, it was announced on Thursday, is taking a meat cleaver to USAID’s workforce, reducing it from 10,000 employees to under 300.
The government’s foremost foreign aid agency is being gutted.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) workforce is being slashed from more than 10,000 employees to fewer than 300, according to reports published in Wired, Reuters, The New York Times and NPR.
The State Department declined to comment. Neither USAID nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment from The Hill.
Essential personnel was to be notified by 3 p.m. EST Thursday, per a message posted on the USAID website, which has been otherwise dark since last weekend when Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) started shutting thousands of employees out of internal systems, causing chaos and concern about the future of the more than 60-year-old agency.
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This is what we call “a good start.” But the permanent fix will require legislation — and, at least, that process seems to be getting started.
