Member of Elon Musk's DOGE takes up senior post at USAID, email says

By Daphne Psaledakis and Douglas Gillison

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A member of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency will take up a top role at the U.S. Agency for International Development, while Pete Marocco, who played a major role in the dismantling of the agency, will return to the State Department, according to an email seen by Reuters.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce confirmed at a news briefing on Wednesday that Marocco, who served as deputy administrator-designate at USAID, will return to the State Department full time as the director of foreign assistance.

"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. 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," Marocco said in an internal email seen by Reuters.

President Donald Trump in January ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid pending a review of whether the programs align with his "America First" foreign policy. USAID has for decades administered civilian foreign aid and development assistance.

Trump and his allies say it needlessly sent money to projects abroad that did little for U.S. interests. Aid workers say the cuts at USAID have ended lifesaving care for millions of people in countries such as Sudan and South Africa.

In the email sent on Tuesday, Marocco said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio - who was appointed as acting administrator of USAID in February - would delegate his authority immediately to Jeremy Lewin to perform the duties of USAID deputy administrator for policy and programs and be Chief Operating Officer.

Lewin was named as a DOGE staffer earlier this month by the COO of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and one other witness in court testimony as part of a lawsuit brought by an employee union and others seeking to reverse the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle that agency.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Lewin. Reuters could not immediately reach Lewin for comment.

Ken Jackson will perform the duties of USAID deputy administrator for management and resources and be CFO, while Joel Borkert will be chief of staff and Marcus Thornton will be deputy chief of staff, Marocco said.

Jackson was named in a legal filing on Tuesday as "Assistant to the Administrator for Management and Resources for USAID". He is also acting president of the U.S. Institute for Peace after Trump fired the president on March 14 and replaced him with Jackson. Reuters could not reach Jackson for comment.

Jackson, alongside DOGE representatives, gained access to the Institute on Monday with the help of armed police, expelling the institute's president, staff and outside counsel, according to the filing.

Bloomberg reported that Jackson and Borkert were also DOGE staffers.

Musk and DOGE gained access to USAID's payment and email systems, froze many of its payments and told much of its staff they were being placed on leave. On February 3, Musk wrote on X that he had "spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper."

Earlier this month, Rubio said the Trump administration canceled more than 80 percent of all the programs at USAID following a six-week review, and thanked the staffers of DOGE.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Douglas Gillison, Humeyra Pamuk and Tim Reid; Editing by Alistair Bell)