
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attacked the US Agency for International Development (USAID), calling it a "criminal organization" after Donald Trump moved to freeze the bulk of Washington's foreign assistance for three months. AFP
USAID staffers said they tracked 600 employees who reported being locked out of the agency’s computer systems overnight. Those still in the system received emails in the agency system saying that “at the direction of Agency leadership” the headquarters building “will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, Feb. 3.”
The developments come after Musk, who's leading an extraordinary civilian review of the federal government with the Republican president's agreement, said early Monday that he had spoken with Trump about the six-decade U.S. aid and development agency and “he agreed we should shut it down.”
“It became apparent that it's not an apple with a worm in it,” Musk said. “What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair.” “We’re shutting it down.”
Musk's comments online came after the administration placed two top security chiefs at USAID on leave after they refused to turn over classified material in restricted areas to Musk’s government inspection teams, a current and a former U.S. official told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Members of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, eventually did gain access Saturday to the aid agency’s classified information, which includes intelligence reports, the former official said.
Musk’s DOGE crew lacked high enough security clearance to access that information, so the two USAID security officials — John Voorhees and Deputy Brian McGill — believed themselves legally obligated to deny access.
The current and former U.S. officials knew about the incident and spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information.
Musk on Sunday responded to an X post about the news by saying, “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die.” He followed with additional posts on X about the aid agency.
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