Congressional Office Says Trump Has No Authority to Dismantle USAID

U.S. President Donald Trump does not have the authority to abolish the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to a Congressional Research Service report published Monday, which noted that congressional authorization is needed to "abolish, move, or consolidate" the humanitarian assistance agency.

The report was release the same day that billionaire Elon Musk, who has been tapped by Trump to help lead his administration's efforts to cut spending and bureaucracy through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), said he was seeking to shut down the agency, which is known as USAID. Musk, who said he had received Trump's blessing to do so, made the remarks during a live discussion on X.

Also Monday, the State Department announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had taken over as acting director of the agency.

"Secretary Rubio has also now notified Congress that a review of USAID's foreign assistance activities is underway with an eye towards potential reorganization," according to statement from the State Department.

The Trump administration implemented a 90-day freeze on nearly all foreign aid during its first week, and days later placed dozens of senior USAID staffers on leave. Two top security officials at USAID were removed by the administration over the weekend after they refused representatives with DOGE access to restricted spaces at the agency.

According to the congressional report, the White House can make make structural changes to USAID and to the State Department, such as shifting functions from one agency to the other. However, the administration is supposed to notify and consult "appropriate congressional committees" prior to making changes, and "in the past, administrations have implemented such changes only after this notification."

The report states that some members of Congress had raised concerns over Trump's halting of foreign aid and the administration's removal of USAID officials, and that news of the "administration's actions to subsume USAID into the State Department may deepen such concerns and raise new questions" about the administration's adherence to consultation requirements and use of funds appropriated for USAID.

"Members on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees, in particular, might elect to seek more information about these actions from the administration through congressional hearings, letters, and informal communications," wrote the author of the report.