‘We must make sure it is well spent, but it is less than 1 percent of budget & critical to our national security,’ Rubio said in 2017. A 2017 tweet by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in which he called foreign aid “critical” has resurfaced as the Trump administration makes moves to restructure and possibly abolish the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). During his time as a senator, Rubio called for transparency in U.S. foreign aid but was in general supportive.

“Foreign Aid is not charity,” said Rubio in a post on February 28, 2017. “We must make sure it is well spent, but it is less than 1 percent of budget & critical to our national security.”. Dozens of senior officials have been placed on leave, and thousands of contractors have been fired amid a freeze on billions of dollars of humanitarian aid. Founded by President John F. Kennedy, USAID is the agency responsible for delivering humanitarian aid abroad. The recent changes made by the Trump administration have left aid organizations wondering whether they will be able to continue with their programs.

Republicans and Democrats have fought over the agency since its Cold War founding at the zenith of the struggle between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Kennedy was looking for a more efficient way to take on Soviet influence abroad via foreign aid, and he viewed the State Department as being too bureaucratic. Following the passage of the Foreign Assistance Act, the agency was established in 1961. Those backing the agency’s work today say it’s countering the influence of Russia and China, which has its “Belt and Road” initiative working in a number of countries that the U.S. also wishes to partner with.

President Donald Trump enacted a 90-day freeze on foreign aid on his first day back in the White House. A political appointee from Trump’s first term, Peter Marocco, drafted a more severe interpretation of the order, which led to the shutting down of thousands of programs abroad and furloughs and firings. Rubio has taken steps to allow certain life-saving programs to keep going during the freeze, but confusion remains over what programs are exempted.

Staff was told Monday not to enter the headquarters in the nation’s capital. The USAID website and its X account have been removed. Rubio has said that the goal of the freeze was a review of the programs to see which make “America safer, stronger or more prosperous.”. He added that the move to shut down the programs during the 90-day review period meant that the U.S. was “getting a lot more cooperation” from recipients of the assistance.