Rubio accuses USAID of 'rank insubordination'

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called out the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on Monday for what he called "rank insubordination," adding that the agency and its procedures need an overhaul.

His comments just a day after President Trump announced Rubio would also serve as the acting head of USAID.

“Well, that was always the goal was to reform it, but now we have rank insubordination," Rubio told Fox News's Rich Edson in an interview. "Now we have basically an active effort — their basic attitude is, 'We don’t work for anyone, we work for ourselves, no agency of government can tell us what to do.'"

“So the president made me the acting administrator," he added. "I’ve delegated that power to someone who is there full-time, and we’re going to go through the same process at USAID as we’re going through now at the State Department."

The former Florida senator continued his criticism of the agency, arguing it has lost its focus and abandoned the "national interest," citing complaints from U.S. officials and foreign leaders.

“They have basically evolved into an agency that believes that they’re not even a U.S. government agency, that they are out — they’re a global charity, that they take the taxpayer money, and they spend it as a global charity irrespective of whether it is in the national interest or not in the national interest,” Rubio said Monday.

“One of the most common complaints you will get if you go to embassies around the world from State Department officials and ambassadors and the like is USAID is not only not cooperative — they undermine the work that we’re doing in that country, they are supporting programs that upset the host government for whom we’re trying to work with on a broader scale, and so forth," he added.

Experts have argued blocking USAID funding is unconstitutional and plan to challenge the Trump administration’s efforts in the court of law. Democratic lawmakers have also pushed back against the administration's perceived intent to merge the State Department and USAID.

“We don’t have a fourth branch of government called 'Elon Musk,' and that’s going to become real clear,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said at a press conference with other Democratic lawmakers outside USAID headquarters. The group was blocked from entering the building.

“This illegal, unconstitutional interference with congressional power is threatening lives all over the world," Raskin added.

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