USAID site offline as Musk says it should be shut down

The future of USAID – the world's largest donor of humanitarian aid, including projects to raise the quality and safety of medicines in low- and middle-income countries – is in doubt.
The organisation's website was offline over the weekend and at the time of writing, and there are rumours USAID will be shut down altogether and merged into the US State Department.
There was a standoff between USAID and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) over access to restricted areas and personnel data at the aid agency over the weekend, according to a CNN report, which resulted in two USAID officials – including director of security John Voorhees and his deputy – being placed on administrative leave.
Last night, President Donald Trump said that USAID is run by "a bunch of radical lunatics," adding: "We're getting them out [and] then we'll make a decision."
On his X account, Musk described USAID as a "criminal organisation" plagued by "corruption and waste" and it is "time for it to die." He continued his attacks this morning, saying: "We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper. Could gone to some great parties [sic]. Did that instead."
Senate Democrats said in a letter yesterday that any attempt to fold USAID into the State Department "should be, and by law must be, previewed, discussed, and approved by Congress."
They also expressed concern about the "potential access of sensitive, even classified, files, which may include the personally identifiable information (PII) of Americans working with USAID," adding: "This incident as a whole, raises deep concerns about the protection and safeguarding of matters related to US national security."
The consequences of shutting down USAID on humanitarian aid efforts around the world would be unfathomable, as it provided around 42% of all aid tracked by the United Nations last year.
Trump has already ordered a temporary freeze on almost all US foreign assistance as part of his "America First" agenda, with a statement from the State Department saying that the US "is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people."
Emergency food programmes and military aid to allies – including the largest recipients Israel and Egypt – are being retained, and there are reports that some medicines programmes may also be exempt.
In 2023, the US distributed around $72 billion in foreign aid across nearly 180 countries. USAID provides funding for some key health programmes, including the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) – first launch two decades ago – which provides HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment services in developing countries.
The agency also helps LMICs with technical assistance, capacity building, quality assurance, and other support to help their pharmaceutical supply chains become more resilient and tackle threats like antimicrobial resistance.
Along with the deep impact on humanitarian programmes, there are concerns that the potential exit of the US from the international stage in these areas will leave a vacuum that could be exploited by other countries, notably China and Russia, that will eventually undermine its 'soft power' to achieve foreign policy objectives.