Category World News

Due to the Republican leader’s constitutional challenges in reorganizing the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the administration of President Donald Trump has submitted a formal request to Congress.

USAID was established as a result of a congressional act. However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Friday that the Trump administration would rename the Department of State, which would be in charge of overseeing the agency’s independent functions.

In a statement on social media, Rubio said, “We are reorienting our foreign assistance programs to align directly with what is best for the United States and our citizens.” We are investing strategically to advance our partners and our own nation while carrying out crucial lifesaving initiatives.

However, critics have accused the Trump administration of overstepping its bounds and trying to undermine independent organizations that don’t align with its goals.

Later that day, State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce gave a news conference presentation on the subject.

She claimed that department officials “have informed Congress of their intention to reorganize” the organization, which would involve changing the way the department’s priorities are handled by the department by July 1, 2025, and removing the last USAID functions that don’t align with its administrative priorities.

Bruce also refrained from arguing that the country’s ability to deal with global disasters like the earthquakes in Myanmar and Thailand on Friday.

“We’re prepared to move right away. Therefore, she said, “we haven’t had an impact on how well we can perform those duties, those requests for assistance when and where they come in.”

Through the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, USAID was established under the authority of Congress. However, it is run by the secretary of state.

The organization was one of the largest distributors of foreign aid until Trump’s second term as president, but that activity largely stopped when the president put a freeze on foreign aid in place.

US aid totaling $ 72 billion was distributed by the US alone in 2023. About half of that amount was distributed by USAID.

However, Rubio has since stated on social media that contracts with USAID have been canceled by 83 percent.

Further employee reductions at USAID

Additionally, there have been numerous layoffs at the organization, which started on Friday.

A memo to USAID employees was obtained by US media that warned that all positions, save those that are required by law, would be eliminated. During her briefing, Bruce, the State Department’s spokesperson, inquired about the changes’ scope.

She said, “With any significant change, there will be disruption,” adding that the layoffs were not unexpected.

“This conclusion has been in our minds.” It arrived. At this point, I can’t tell how many people will no longer serve as foreign service officers. I’m not sure if it will be “everyone.”

She continued, “It’s essentially a restructuring.” There will undoubtedly be disruptions from Secretary Rubio down, as with any restructuring. We are committed to keeping USAID’s lifesaving aid programs operational and personnel safe.

Bruce connected the layoffs to the Trump administration’s effort to end alleged “waste, fraud, and abuse,” a project spearheaded by billionaire businessman Elon Musk.

USAID’s workforce was already subject to significant workforce cuts in February. All but a small portion of the company’s remaining employees, including those stationed abroad, were laid off, leaving about 1,600 people.

Workers were given 15-minute window breaks to enter the building and pick up their belongings from there, and the company’s Washington, DC, headquarters was also shut down.

A federal judge ruled earlier this month that Trump, his Department of Government Efficiency, and other individuals “likely” violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways by dismantling USAID.

According to Judge Theodore Chuang, Musk and DOGE “deprived the public’s elected representatives in Congress of their constitutional authority to decide whether, when, and how to dissolve an agency that was established by Congress.”

DOGE and Musk were ordered to stop attempting to terminate USAID’s staff and contracts by placing a temporary injunction. However, it’s unclear whether the secretary of state’s actions fall under that rule.

A federal judge in New Jersey, the state where Mahmoud Khalil was born, will continue to consider whether the case should be moved to Louisiana rather than decide whether to transfer the case to Louisiana.

As he doubled down on his plans to annex the strategically placed, resource-rich Danish territory, US President Donald Trump claims that the country needs to annex Greenland for “world peace.”

“We’re not talking about American peace,” he said. The topic of discussion is global peace. Trump addressed reporters at the White House, “We are talking about international security.”

On Friday, Vice President JD Vance, his wife, and other senior US officials made a trip to an American military base in Greenland that was later canceled because Greenlanders and Danes complained that the original itinerary had been made without consulting them.

As he and his wife sat down for lunch with them shortly after arriving, Vance briefly addressed the US troops stationed there, explaining that he is “really interested in Arctic security.”

As you all know, it’s a significant issue and will only grow bigger as it gets worse, Vance said. He was scheduled to give remarks and briefings to military officials at a later time.

Relations between the US and the Nordic nation have deteriorated since Trump repeatedly suggested that the US should have some control over the mineral-rich territory held by Denmark, a long-time US ally and NATO member.

A delegation traveling to another country without an official invitation was prevented by Friday’s one-day visit to the US Space Force base at Pituffik, on Greenland’s northwest coast, from potentially breaking diplomatic customs. Additionally, it will lessen the likelihood that Vance and his wife will elude Trump’s announcements.

According to the vice president’s office, Vance was scheduled to give briefings and remarks to US service members on the base during his visit. Mike Waltz, the energy secretary, and second lady Usha Vance, the national security adviser, are among his delegation.

A senior White House official claimed that Danish leaders had spent decades deceiving the Greenlandic people, treating them like second-class citizens, and allowing the island’s infrastructure to crumble.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity to read the vice president’s message, added that Vance would stress the need to increase Arctic security in places like Pituffik.

“We must work together,” the saying goes.

Four of the five parties elected to Greenland’s parliament earlier this month agreed to form a new, broad-based coalition government before Vance’s arrival. In response to Trump’s plans for the area, the parties banded together.

Before the signing of the agreement, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, the prime minister-designate, was greeted with cheers and applause in the capital, Nuuk.

He added that “we must unite.” We are strongest as a whole, according to Greenland’s KNR.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen congratulated Nielsen and his new government in an Instagram post that read, “I look forward to close cooperation in an unnecessarily conflict-filled time.”

Frederiksen claimed on Tuesday that the US visit, which had originally been scheduled for three days, “created unacceptable pressure.” She claimed that while Denmark and the United States are interested in working together on defense and security, Greenland is a Greenlander’s country.

Usha Vance had initially planned to travel alone to Sisimiut’s Avannaata Qimussersu dogsled race. After that, her husband later said he would accompany her on that trip, only to have the couple visit the military post for one day after the couple’s protests in Greenland and Denmark.

Trump, however, reiterated his desire for US control of Greenland in an interview on Wednesday. Trump responded, “but I think we have to do it, and we have to convince them,” when asked if the people there were “eager” to become US citizens.

A little crazy, I guess.

Residents of Nuuk, which is located about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) south of Pituffik, expressed concern about Vance’s visit and US interest in their island.

Vance is “welcome if he wants to see it,” according to Cora Hoy, 22, but Greenland is not for sale. With all the attention Greenland is receiving, she continued, “it’s not normal around here.” I simply want to get away from it because I feel like Trump is every day.

“It’s all a little crazy,” the author says. The population here is, of course, somewhat shaky, according to 30-year-old Inuk Kristensen. You don’t do things this way, of course, as everyone else’s does. You don’t just come in and say you want to buy the place.

As China and Russia seek access to its waterways and natural resources, Greenland has a greater strategic significance as the nautical gateway to the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America.

Even though Denmark insisted that the island was not for sale during his first term, Trump pushed the idea of buying it. Additionally, Greenland’s citizens have vehemently opposed Trump’s plans.