In 2021, California had the largest state budget at $297.86 billion, while Delaware had the smallest at $6.31 billion (several other states have lower budgets in a multi-year budget format). The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), currently in the limelight of media, had a budget of ~$40 billion in 2021 and grew to ~$50 billion in 2023 and 2024. In 2025, Trump’s second term, the USAID budget is listed for $1.09B, as it is being shut down by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE created by Trump and headed by Elon Musk for reasons of waste and mismanagement of funding. USAID has been a continuous headline in the media in the first 50 days of the Trump Administration.

The USAID is just one target as Trump is shutting down the Department of Education (annual budget $48B in 2023 and $52B in 2024), giving its responsibilities to the states. USAID is a federal agency with about 10,000 federal employees. It was established in 1961 to consolidate several US foreign aid operations. Its initial objective is more for humanitarian aid, relieving poverty, natural disasters, and human health issues. Over the years, the USAID budget has grown to higher than the average state budget ($44.5 B in 2021) and comparable to DOE’s budget ($52B).

History of USAID – After President John F Kennedy’s inauguration on January 20, 1961, he created the Peace Corps by Executive Order on March 1, 1961. On March 22, he sent a special message to Congress on foreign aid, proposing to consolidate all U.S. development assistance administration into a single agency for a “decade of development (1960s).” He sent a proposed “Act for International Development” to Congress in May, and Congress approved the resulting “Foreign Assistance Act” in September, Kennedy then signed the act in November and issued an Executive Order tasking the Secretary of State to create, within the State Department, the “Agency for International Development” (A.I.D. later it is re-branded as USAID), a permanent agency working with administrative autonomy under the policy guidance of the State Department to implement, through resident field missions, a global program of both technical and financial development assistance for low-income countries.

Evolution of USAID- Congress established USAID as a functionally independent executive agency with the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, giving the President 60 days to abolish or reorganize USAID. President Bill Clinton then reorganized USAID and retained its independence from the State Department. Congress authorized USAID’s programs in the Foreign Assistance Act, supplementing its funding through annual appropriation acts and other legislation. Thus, USAID became an official component of U.S. foreign policy. USAID operates subject to the guidance of the President, Secretary of State, and the National Security Council.

USAID Mission – USAID is the lead U.S. government agency responsible for administering foreign aid, with a very broad mission categorized by the following bullets (subject to revisions by the agency) as core missions and goals (with changes over time). The bullets are Ending Extreme Poverty (dropped in the later list), Promoting Democratic Societies (Governance in another version), Promoting and Supporting Economic Growth, Addressing Humanitarian Needs, Promoting Global Health, U.S. National Security (added economic prosperity in another version), Supporting U.S. Commercial Interests, Promoting Self-Reliance, Demonstrating American Generosity (dropped in a later version), Catalyzing Innovation and Partnership, and Empowering Women and Girls. With such a broad mission, USAID has listed its focus areas as economic growth and trade, democracy and governance, global health, food security and agriculture, education, humanitarian assistance, Environmental sustainability, crisis and conflicts (changed to conflict prevention and peacebuilding), and local capacity (dropped in another version). The information available on USAID is not current, it is difficult to find updated information about USAID in 2025.

USAID Deeds and Criticism – Under such a broad mission umbrella, USAID has created many projects, but some are either counterproductive, against American interests, or wasteful in terms of purpose, administrative effectiveness, and even damages to the aid recipient and/or the U.S. The following are a few examples:

1. Funding DEI program, LBGT empowerment in Serbia.
2. Questionable funding in medical research in Wuhan.
3. Sending $50M condoms to Gaza (although this was denied by the named recipient, a humanitarian group.).
4. $14.4B aid to Ukraine in 2023, $3.7B administrative cost over $7.2B healthcare assistance.
5. $33B aid in 2023 under democracy, human rights, governance, education, and social services categories to find change markers in foreign countries to steer US political reform abroad and to export American cultural ideals. (Bad programs supporting bad actors fostering anti-American deeds.)
6. $29.6 M funding to Africa. A USAID-funded charity in Kenya allegedly covered up rampant sex abuse of children, and USAID funded a second charity in the Central African Republic a month after a major sex abuse scandal broke.
7. Other examples, $1.46B aid to Afghanistan used in drug supply chain fights, USAID invested $9.5B in medical supply chain development which produced nothing, and other wasteful funding such as the COVID merger.

USAID has about 10,000 employees. By DOGE’s scrutiny, the agency is being shut down to keep 296 employees. Currently, there are several court cases filed by various organizations to stop the dismantling of USAID, citing the impact on humanitarian assistance. There is a federal judge who made a 66-page opinion about DOGE’s actions which may be unconstitutional. However, after reviewing USAID’s history, its creation, funding, and lack of administrative oversight, it seems that the president has the power to reorganize and even close down USAID. Any court’s concern should be focused on federal employees’ welfare in terms of layoff, furlough, or forced retirement. The purpose of establishing DOGE is clear and positive. The U.S. government has grown too big and too bureaucratic. An agency such as USAID having a budget equivalent to that of the Department of Education or a mid-sized state is significant enough to be scrutinized and seriously audited. If President Trump is seriously concerned with the U.S. national debt (which is about $36 Trillion) and his Make America Great Again (MAGA) goals, he has no choice but to take a chopping knife to chop off any useless fat in the U.S. government.