Trump administration seeks Congress approval for USAID reorganisation

The administration of President Donald Trump has made a formal request to Congress to reorganise the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), as the Republican leader faces constitutional challenges over his dismantling of the agency so far.

USAID was set up under an act of Congress. But on Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a notification signalling that the Trump administration would fold the agency’s independent functions into the Department of State under executive control.

“We are reorienting our foreign assistance programs to align directly with what is best for the United States and our citizens,” Rubio said in a statement on social media. “We are continuing essential lifesaving programs and making strategic investments that strengthen our partners and our own country.”

But critics have accused the Trump administration of exceeding its executive authority — and seeking to undermine independent agencies that do not align with its priorities.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce addressed the matter at a news briefing later in the day.

She said department officials “have notified Congress on their intent to undertake a reorganisation 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 administrative priorities”.

Bruce also denied that the dismantling of USAID would affect the country’s ability to respond to international disasters like Friday’s earthquakes in Myanmar and Thailand.

“ We are ready to move now. So there has been no impact on our ability to perform those duties, those requests for aid if and when they come in,” she said.

USAID was established under Congress’s authority through the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. But it does operate under the secretary of state.