USAID security officials placed on leave after refusing access to Musk's DOGE personnel: Report

WASHINGTON

Two top security officials at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) were placed on administrative leave after refusing to grant access to personnel from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a newly created office under billionaire Elon Musk, CNN reported Sunday, citing multiple sources.

According to the report, DOGE personnel demanded access to security systems and personnel files and in some cases classified information at the USAID headquarters in Washington, DC on Saturday night but were stopped. Two sources were quoted as saying that DOGE personnel threatened to call US Marshals to gain entry.

USAID Director of Security John Voorhees and his deputy are among dozens of officials placed on leave, it added.

Following the report, Musk accused USAID of being “a criminal organization,” writing on X that it is “Time for it to die.” He also called the agency “evil” and a “viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America.”

Katie Miller, who served in US President Donald Trump's previous administration and is now working with DOGE, wrote on X Sunday that "no classified material was accessed without proper security clearances."

On Saturday, USAID’s website went offline and its official X and Instagram accounts were also taken down.

The recent actions against USAID follow an executive order issued by Trump shortly after taking office last month halting all foreign aid for 90 days. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later approved exemptions for “life-saving humanitarian assistance” on Jan. 30.

Around 60 senior USAID officials were reportedly placed on leave last week over allegations that they attempted to bypass the executive order on foreign aid.

Trump is reportedly seeking to dissolve USAID and integrate it into the State Department.

In a letter to Rubio, a group of Democratic senators from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee including Jeanne Shaheen, Brian Schatz, Chris Coons and Chris Murphy argued that Trump cannot legally eliminate USAID without congressional approval.

“The potential access of sensitive, even classified, files which may include the personally identifiable information (PII) of Americans working with USAID, and this incident as a whole raises deep concerns about the protection and safeguarding of matters related to U.S. national security," they said.

The lawmakers also requested an "immediate update" about the access of USAID’s headquarters and whether any review is underway regarding "potential unauthorized access to sensitive personnel information and classified materials."

In fiscal year 2023, USAID managed over $40 billion in federal spending, less than 1% of the federal budget, funding aid projects across around 130 countries including Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan and Syria.

The State Department and USAID did not immediately comment on the report.