USAID staffers were told not to come into the Washington-based office

USAID workers were emailed shortly after midnight, saying they should not come into their office as the Washington headquarters were closed for the day, multiple insiders familiar with the situation told CNN.

“At the direction of Agency leadership, the USAID headquarters at the Ronald Reagan building in Washington, D.C. will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, February 3, 2025. Agency personnel normally assigned to work at USAID headquarters will work remotely tomorrow, with the exception of personnel with essential on-site and building maintenance functions individually contacted by senior leadership,” according to a copy of the email obtained by CNN.

‘We’re shutting it down’

The move comes after Musk, who plays a massive role in rebuilding the federal government, said Monday that Trump and some Republican lawmakers supported shutting down the international aid agency that Congress initially created as an independent body in the 1960s.

“It became apparent that it’s not an apple with a worm it in,” Musk said in an X Spaces session early Monday, according to The Associated Press. “What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair.”

“We’re shutting it down,“ he added.

The Trump administration freezes foreign aid

Several Democratic lawmakers have rejected the claim that USAID is a partisan program, asserting that Trump lacks the authority to shut it down. However, the agency is among many programs Trump has targeted for dismantling, citing claims that it supports only liberal causes.

“It’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out, and then we’ll make a decision“ on its future, he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, per CNN.

The Trump administration and newly appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio have imposed an unprecedented freeze on all foreign aid through USAID’s programs worldwide, leading to thousands of layoffs and furloughs by aid organizations. However, Rubio has not commented on whether Musk and Trump should shut down USAID.

DOGE gained access to classified information

According to current and former officials familiar with the matter, the Trump administration placed two top security chiefs at USAID on leave over the weekend after they refused to hand over classified information and other personnel files to Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

Per AP, DOGE personnel also accessed sensitive Medicare and Social Security customer payment system information.

“No classified material was accessed without proper security clearances,“ DOGE spokesperson Katie Miller said on X, formerly Twitter.

No classified material was accessed without proper security clearances. https://t.co/dwgYKvT9Dm

— Katie Miller (@katierosemiller) February 2, 2025