Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday that Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, will oversee the closing of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has seen massive funding cuts and restructuring since President Donald Trump began his second term.
In addition to running the State Department, Rubio was handling the shutdown of USAID as well as being acting national security adviser and acting archivist of the U.S. He joked about the juggling act at Wednesday's Cabinet meeting.
"For me personally, this is the most meaningful Labor Day of my life as someone with four jobs," Rubio said.
"It's true," Trump said, smiling.
In a post Friday on X, Rubio pointed to that joke as the impetus for Vought to take control of USAID.
"I joked with @POTUS that I had four jobs," Rubio wrote. "He told me to give one to my friend @RussVought47. So I did.
"Since January, we've saved the taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. And with a small set of core programs moved over to the State Department, USAID is officially in closeout mode. Russ is now at the helm to oversee the closeout of an agency that long ago went off the rails. Congrats, Russ."
In a follow-up post Friday on X, Vought wrote: "Happy to help! Let's go!"
The handoff came after months of dramatic steps by the Trump administration and Congress to freeze aid, slash USAID's budget, and move most of its programs under the State Department.
Since taking office Jan. 20, Trump has frozen most foreign development aid, placed thousands of USAID staff on leave, and overseen the cancellation of more than 80% of its programs. Congress cemented the cuts in July by passing a rescissions package that eliminated more than $8 billion from the agency's budget.
Earlier this month, a federal appeals court cleared the way for the administration to finish closing USAID. With Trump's move Friday to freeze $5 billion more in international aid, Vought is now tasked with executing the agency's shutdown.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.