Bennet, Hickenlooper Demand Answers on Trump Administration’s Efforts to Dismantle USAID

Feb 5, 2025|Press Releases
Washington D.C.– Colorado Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper joined U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and 35 of their Senate colleagues to demand answers from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)’s attempt to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
This week, USAID employees were barred from entering the agency’s headquarters. DOGE leader Elon Musk also said that President Donald Trump “agreed” to shut down USAID and move it under the State Department – which the administration has no legal authority to without Congressional approval. Additionally, the Trump administration has furloughed thousands of senior career civil servants, including two top security officials who denied DOGE officials access to classified documents and systems without the proper security clearances.
“We are deeply concerned by reports of not only growing chaos and dysfunction at the Department of State, but the Administration’s brazen and illegal attempts to destroy the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID),”wrote Bennet, Hickenlooper, Kaine, and the senators.“Mass personnel furloughs of dubious legality and abrupt, blanket stop-work orders without regard to relevant appropriations laws are causing immediate harm to U.S. national security, placing U.S. citizens at risk, disrupting life-saving work and breaking the U.S. government’s contractual obligations to private sector partners.”
“The Administration’s failure to consult with Congress prior to taking these steps violates the law and impedes Congress’s constitutional duty to conduct oversight of funding, personnel and the nation’s foreign policy. The Administration’s failure to expend funds appropriated on a bipartisan basis by Congress would violate the Impoundment Control Act,”the senators continued.
In their letter, the senators highlight USAID’s critical importance to U.S. national security strategy and saving lives worldwide. They demand that Secretary Rubio answer questions about the dysfunction created by these illegal actions and clarify the status of funding that has been legally approved by Congress.
In addition to Bennet, Hickenlooper, and Kaine, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N,Y.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Angus S. King (I-Maine), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), and Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) also signed the letter.
The full text of the letter is availableHEREand below.
Dear Secretary Rubio:
The effective administration of U.S. foreign assistance is critical to advancing core U.S. national security priorities, including countering the influence of China, Russia and Iran. As you acknowledged at your confirmation hearing, pushing back on China in particular is a top bipartisan priority.
As such, we are deeply concerned by reports of not only growing chaos and dysfunction at the Department of State, but the Administration’s brazen and illegal attempts to destroy the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Mass personnel furloughs of dubious legality and abrupt, blanket stop-work orders without regard to relevant appropriations laws are causing immediate harm to U.S. national security, placing U.S. citizens at risk, disrupting life-saving work and breaking the U.S. government’s contractual obligations to private sector partners.
The Administration’s failure to consult with Congress prior to taking these steps violates the law and impedes Congress’s constitutional duty to conduct oversight of funding, personnel and the nation’s foreign policy. The Administration’s failure to expend funds appropriated on a bipartisan basis by Congress would violate the Impoundment Control Act.
Foreign assistance is critical to supporting U.S. strategic interests around the world. Foreign assistance protects U.S. national security, advances U.S. values, and ensures the U.S. is the partner of choice for everything from defense procurement to cutting edge scientific research. China, Russia and Iran are already moving rapidly to exploit the vacuum and instability left by the U.S.’s sudden global retreat.
Every Administration has the right to review and adjust ongoing assistance programming. However, attempting to arbitrarily turn off core functions of a critical U.S. national security agency, without Congressional consideration or any metric-based review and absent legal authority to do so, is unprecedented and deeply disturbing.
We request immediate clarification on the following:
Status of USAID:
Personnel:
Resumption of Foreign Assistance:
We welcome your urgent attention to these questions. We and our staff stand ready to work with you to ensure U.S. foreign assistance funding continues to be deployed effectively to protect American citizens, at home and abroad.
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