Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the administration’s decision to absorb the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) into the State Department, claiming critics’ fears of catastrophe were unfounded. Rubio pointed to the successful delivery of aid following Hurricane Melissa in October as proof that the new system is effective.
The State Department announced in March that it would absorb USAID’s remaining functions to streamline operations and ensure foreign assistance advances "core U.S. interests." This move led to significant staff cuts and drew sharp criticism from figures like Senator Bernie Sanders, who warned the change would lead to "preventable deaths."
Rubio pushed back against those warnings, telling Fox News Digital that "alarmists in politics and the media" have been proven wrong. He asserted that the realignment has improved disaster response while ensuring foreign aid aligns with the interests of the American people rather than "extreme ideological projects."
During the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, which struck Jamaica as a historic Category 5 storm, the State Department deployed regional disaster assistance and search and rescue teams. The response included the distribution of 5,000 family food packs in coordination with the United Nations World Food Program.+1
The Secretary noted that the administration used $1 million to administer food and resources from predesignated warehouses across the region. He credited this "new era of foreign assistance" for bypassing the "wasteful NGO industrial complex" and prioritizing efficiency over bureaucracy.
Rubio emphasized that the streamlined approach leverages American ingenuity and eliminates the subsidies for projects that the public was previously "forced to subsidize." He concluded that the current model successfully "puts the American people first" while still saving lives abroad during major crises.