Marco Rubio just got a new role thanks to Trump and Elon Musk

Kirby Wilson, Tampa Bay Times on Feb 3, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is adding a new role to his portfolio: acting head of the embattled U.S. Agency for International Development.

In recent days, Elon Musk, the ultrawealthy ally of President Donald Trump, has launched an all-out assault on the agency, which is tasked with distributing tens of billions of taxpayer dollars appropriated annually by Congress to foreign countries. Its goals include helping developing countries in anti-poverty efforts and sending aid to nations recently stricken by disasters.

Musk and Trump are not fans.

“USAID is/was a radical-left political psy op,” Musk posted Monday to X, the social media platform he owns. He also called it a “criminal organization.”

Last week, Trump said the organization is staffed by “radical left lunatics.” On his first day in office, Trump put a 90 day freeze on all new foreign aid.

After several days of confusion, Rubio allowed a few humanitarian programs to continue, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported.

Rubio has not historically shared Musk’s view on USAID. In 2017, he posted to X that funds distributed to other countries are not “charity,” but that they amount to “less than 1% of budget & critical to our national security.”

At various other times as a Florida senator, Rubio called on USAID to provide money to countries stricken by disaster. For example, in 2019, in the wake of Hurricane Dorian, Rubio applauded the agency for sending supplies to The Bahamas.

On Monday, Rubio told reporters in El Salvador that the agency would continue the programs deemed worthwhile and in the national interest, the New York Times reported. However, he said the agency needed closer supervision. He is putting Pete Marocco, the agency’s of foreign assistance, in charge of the day-to-day operations, the New York Times reported.

Last week, two USAID representatives were put on leave for telling representatives of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency that they could not access secure internal agency systems, the New York Times reported.

Internal resistance “makes it impossible to conduct a sort of mature and serious review,” of agency funds, Rubio said Monday.

The move to take away USAID’s autonomy and put it under the State Department is sure to further escalate tensions between rank-and-file federal employees and political actors in the Trump administration. During his first month in office, Trump and Musk have described the federal bureaucracy as left-leaning and bloated and promised dramatic cuts.

Federal employees who work remotely have been ordered to return to office work. Those who don’t comply have been offered a “deferred resignation” deal: Continue working offsite through Sept. 30, then quit.

Administration officials told CBS News it expects as many as 1 in 10 federal government employees to take the offer.

_____