There is much to be said for someone who completes a job then chooses not to overstay their usefulness.
The official in President Trump’s administration who oversaw massive cuts to USAID has stepped down from his role at the agency.
This from slaynews.com.
Pete Marocco, who was tasked with leading the administration’s overhaul of USAID, quit and put Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in charge of the stripped-down foreign aid agency.
Marocco’s departure comes after USAID was exposed by Trump and DOGE senior advisor Elon Musk as a slush fund for dubious left-wing projects.
Their efforts to shutter the agency have sparked pushback from elected Leftists, government employees, partisan judges, and violent radical Leftists.
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said 83% of USAID programs had been cut, and the cuts are saving taxpayers tens of billions of dollars a year.
In an email to the State Department on Tuesday, Marocco touted a successful mission to make USAID “under control, accountable, and stable.”
USAID is now under control after years of waste, fraud, and abuse.
Marocco said he would return to his post as director of foreign assistance at the State Department.
He confirmed that two DOGE employees have now been placed in charge of USAID.
Marocco stated in the email:
It’s been my honor to assist Secretary Rubio in his leadership of USAID through some difficult stages to pivot this enterprise away from its abuses of the past.
Further:
Now that USAID is under control, accountable, and stable, I am going to return to my post as the Director of Foreign Assistance to bring value back to the American people.
Jeffrey Lewin, a 28-year-old DOGE employee will be the COO and Deputy Administrator for Policy and Programs at USAID.
Lewin is a Harvard Law graduate who assisted in the cuts at USAID.
Ken Jackson, another DOGE employee, will be USAID CFO and Deputy Administrator for Management and Resources.
But the reforms are not complete.
According to leaked memos, the administration wants to move USAID’s remaining 1,000 programs to the State Department.
Under the State Department, USAID would be renamed the U.S. Agency for International Humanitarian Assistance.
The shakeup, which requires approval from Congress, would narrow the focus of USAID.
The change seeks to “ensure measurable returns to America.”
USAID’s critics say the agency has long wasted tax dollars on a list of “woke” priorities that have nothing to do with America’s national interest.
In an op-ed for RealClearPolitics touting the Trump administration’s work, Marocoo said:
[T]he restructuring would ensure that foreign aid is narrowly focused on serving America’s national interests.
Further:
Through this review, it has become abundantly clear that the mindset gripping foreign assistance for decades was one that prioritized funding overseas slush funds instead of delivering results for Americans.
And:
The consolidation of foreign assistance at State, along with the ongoing government-wide review of all foreign assistance programs, will establish a baseline to evaluate the effectiveness and ensure a coordinated strategy of America’s foreign assistance regime.
