Despite the agency's human resources department saying he hadn’t even been onboarded, Jeremy Lewin oversaw the destruction of USAID. It’s not clear he had the legal authority to do so.
It was actually more about the funding, than anything else. While the money allocated for USAID programs is determined by Congress, the accounts that contain those funds are under the control of the State Department. The Trump administration basically told the State Department to put “stop payment” orders on all transactions relating to USAID programs that DOGE deemed uneccessary. After that, no one got paid…and if you can’t pay your staff or the bills…your office has to close.
It was actually more about the funding, than anything else. While the money allocated for USAID programs is determined by Congress, the accounts that contain those funds are under the control of the State Department. The Trump administration basically told the State Department to put “stop payment” orders on all transactions relating to USAID programs that DOGE deemed uneccessary. After that, no one got paid…and if you can’t pay your staff or the bills…your office has to close.