The Trump official who oversaw massive cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is quitting and putting DOGE in charge of the stripped-down foreign aid agency.
Pete Marocco was tasked with leading the administration's overhaul of USAID, which has been targeted by President Trump and Elon Musk as a slush fund for dubious left-wing projects. Their efforts to shutter the agency have sparked pushback from elected Democrats, government employees and partisan judges.
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that 83% of USAID programs had been cut. In an email to the State Department on Tuesday, Marocco touted a successful mission to make USAID "under control, accountable, and stable" after years of waste and abuse.
Marocco said he would return to his post as director of foreign assistance at the State Department, and place two DOGE employees in charge of USAID.
"It's been my honor to assist Secretary Rubio in his leadership of USAID through some difficult stages to pivot this enterprise away from its abuses of the past," Marocco said in the email.
"Now that USAID is under control, accountable and stable, I am going to return to my post as the Director of Foreign Assistance to bring value back to the American people."
Jeffrey Lewin, a 28-year-old DOGE employee and Harvard Law graduate who assisted in the cuts at USAID, will be the COO and Deputy Administrator for Policy and Programs at USAID.
Ken Jackson, another DOGE employee, will be USAID CFO and Deputy Administrator for Management and Resources.
But the reforms aren't over. According to leaked memos, the administration wants to move USAID's remaining 1,000 programs to the State Department, where the agency would be renamed the U.S. Agency for International Humanitarian Assistance.
The shakeup, which requires approval from Congress, would narrow the focus of USAID to "ensure measurable returns to America." USAID's critics say the agency has long wasted tax dollars on a list of "woke" priorities that have nothing to do with America's national interest.
In an op-ed for RealClearPolitics touting the Trump administration's work, Marocoo said the restructuring would ensure that foreign aid is narrowly focused on serving America's national interests.
"Through this review, it has become abundantly clear that the mindset gripping foreign assistance for decades was one that prioritized funding overseas slush funds instead of delivering results for Americans," he wrote.
"The consolidation of foreign assistance at State, along with the ongoing government-wide review of all foreign assistance programs, will establish a baseline to evaluate the effectiveness and ensure a coordinated strategy of America’s foreign assistance regime," he wrote.
