[Update] Elon Musk shuts down USAID, calls it a ball of worms

The short-lived power struggle between Elon Musk and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has reached a grim and unsettling conclusion. Early Monday morning, the Tesla and X CEO announced that the agency — responsible for distributing over $50 billion in international aid — is being shut down.

During a live X Spaces discussion, Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency, claimed that Donald Trump gave him “full support” to dismantle USAID. "We dug into USAID," Musk said. "It became apparent that what we have here is not an apple with a worm in it, but actually just a ball of worms."

Though the DOGE executive order technically limits Musk’s authority to the U.S. Digital Service, he has, in just one weekend, asserted control over multiple federal agencies, including the Office of Personnel Management, the General Services Administration, and even the U.S. Treasury. His takeover has reportedly granted him and his allies access to classified intelligence and critical financial infrastructure.

USAID, the world’s largest single donor agency, plays a vital role in funding programs for women’s health, clean water, HIV/AIDS treatment, sustainable energy, and anti-corruption initiatives. With its abrupt closure, numerous NGOs providing life-saving aid to vulnerable populations now face an uncertain future.

Despite these stakes, Musk dismissed USAID as "beyond repair."

UPDATE: Feb. 3, 2025, 10:15 a.m. CST This development follows our previous coverage on Musk’s allies attempting to gain personnel access to USAID offices over the weekend. Read our initial story below.

Elon Musk and his allies in the federal government are at it again — this time, taking aim at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

According to a CNN report, the chaos kicked off late Saturday night when two senior USAID officials refused to let Musk-linked personnel access the agency’s offices, blocking what appeared to be an attempt to grab sensitive and possibly classified information. Their reward: administrative leave. Now, the future of USAID is hanging by a thread.

USAID oversees billions in global aid, funding NGOs that fight poverty, famine, and disasters. As an agency rooted in distributing resources to the world’s most vulnerable, it has become a natural target for Musk and President Donald Trump. The duo has already attempted to dismantle social safety nets like FAFSA and SNAP, but federal judges have stopped them.

Previous Trump executive orders targeting the agency have already delayed critical relief shipments and frozen funding for NGOs operating in crisis zones. Last week, it was reported that 60 senior staff in USAID were accused of attempting to circumvent the executive order on foreign aid. According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio justifying the freeze, he said "The U.S. government is not a charity."

With its leadership sidelined and systems compromised, the ability to deliver life-saving aid will once again be in serious jeopardy.

Musk, CEO of X (formerly Twitter), has been on a posting spree, using his platform to justify and denigrate his takeover of USAID. He’s called the agency "evil," a "criminal organization," and a "viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America."

Tweet may have been deleted

Musk and his allies in the Office of Personnel Management have already seized control of computer systems within the U.S. Treasury — the agency that processes $6 trillion in payments, essentially the entire federal budget. And to call a spade a spade (or a Nazi a Nazi), what Musk and his team are doing is illegal. Under the guise of budget-cutting, he has effectively taken control of which organizations and programs get funded.

If he or Trump decides that certain groups — or even competitors — don’t deserve money, they can shut them out entirely. It’s a blatant violation of Congress’ power of the purse, and it demands immediate attention.

Right now, USAID is in limbo. A source told CNN that the agency’s entire public affairs office has been placed on leave and locked out of their systems.