Congressional Democrats, including Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), gathered outside the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) headquarters Monday to condemn what they called an illegal and unconstitutional attempt to shut down the agency by President Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk.
The lawmakers accused Trump and Musk of abusing their executive authority by essentially dismantling USAID without the consent of Congress.
“What Trump and Musk have done is not only wrong, it’s illegal,” said Rep. Beyer during the press conference. “USAID was established by an act of Congress, and it can only be disbanded by an act of Congress. Stopping this will require action by the courts and for Republicans to show up, show courage, and stand up for our country.”
“We are witnessing a constitutional crisis,” she cautioned. “We talked about Trump being a dictator on day one, and here we are—this is the beginning of what dictatorship looks like.”
IREPORT247NEW reports that Elon Musk locks out 600 Workers and Shuts Down USAID. The U.S. Agency for International Development, which is responsible for providing humanitarian aid abroad, was shut down by tech billionaire Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump after they decided the agency was “beyond repair.”
After reviewing the government agency with Trump’s approval, Musk, the leader of Trump’s government efficiency drive, made the decision to close the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and its offices in Washington, D.C.
Mail Online reports that employees were taken aback when they received emails on Monday morning telling them to avoid the agency’s offices in Washington, D.C.
According to USAID employees, they were able to track 600 workers who claimed to have been locked out of the agency’s computer systems during the course of the night.
“At the direction of Agency leadership, the headquarters building will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, Feb. 3,” according to notifications sent to work emails for those remaining in the system.
Regarding the six-decade-old U.S. international aid and development organization, Elon Musk said, “It became apparent that it’s not an apple with a worm it in.”
“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 said on X.