Democrats will fight USAID takedown 'in every way we can,' top lawmaker says
House Oversight Committee ranking member Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said this afternoon that Democrats will fight the Trump administration's dismantling of USAID on multiple fronts.
“We are going to fight in every way we can, in the courts, in public opinion, with the bully pulpit, in the halls of Congress and here at USAID itself. We are not going to let this injustice happen," Connolly said at a news conference, flanked by other House and Senate Democrats in front of USAID's headquarters in downtown Washington.
He and the other top Democrats said that if the Trump administration wants to change USAID, Congress has to pass a bill that he would have to sign into law.
Connolly added: "Congress created this agency with the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, and if you want to change it, you've got to change that law. It is a matter of statute. It’s a matter for Congress to deal with, not an unelected billionaire oligarch [like] Elon Musk.”
Other Democrats also warned about the harm the move would have on U.S. national security and efforts to fight terrorism abroad.
Trump says Musk won't act 'without our approval'
Asked about Musk's access to government payment systems as he was speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said, "He’s got access only to letting people go he thinks are no good, if we agree with him."
“Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval, and we’ll give him the approval where appropriate. Where not appropriate we won’t. He reports in," Trump said, before he insisted he's on the lookout for any conflicts of interest concerning Musk, the world's richest man.
"Where we think there’s a conflict or a problem, we won’t let him go near it," he said, saying his role is to shrink the government.
Trump signed executive orders and proclamations and noted the presence of two billionaires in his office, Rupert Murdoch and Larry Ellison, calling them legends.
Federal loans and grants still appear to be frozen, judge says
Various federal grants, loans and other forms of financial aid still appear to be on pause as a result of last week’s White House memo ordering a temporary government funding freeze, a federal judge in Washington said during a hearing this morning.
That’s despite the White House Office of Management and Budget rescinding its own memo and a court order by a different federal judge in Rhode Island blocking the government from implementing the freeze.
U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan didn’t immediately rule during this morning's hearing, but said she is inclined to grant a request from a coalition of nonprofit groups for a temporary restraining order requiring the government to release federal funds that have been frozen since last week. AliKhan said she intends to issue a written ruling by 5 p.m. today.
A temporary restraining order wouldn’t change the status quo, but it would echo the court order issued in Rhode Island. The case in Rhode Island was brought by a group of 22 Democrat state attorneys general.
AliKhan also said she was leaning against granting the Justice Department a motion to dismiss the lawsuit as moot because the OMB had rescinded its memo.
The fact that individuals are still having issues accessing funding platforms indicates the memo is still doing some work, the judge said.
Lawyers representing the nonprofits have submitted declarations from various organizations testifying to their inability to access funds. One declaration from the board president of a West Virginia nonprofit that assists people with disabilities said they have been waiting for federal grant funds to be deposited into the organization’s account since Jan. 29 and had not received the funds as of Sunday night.
House speaker says Trump's actions without congressional input are 'appropriate'
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in an interview with Fox News this morning that Trump's efforts to cut federal spending and make other moves without congressional approval have been "appropriate."
"He's doing a lot by executive authority, which we applaud, and we're going to follow that up and really reinforce what he's doing, the agenda through legislation," Johnson said on "Fox & Friends."
Johnson added that Trump's tariffs and federal cost-cutting efforts are part of the broader effort to boost the economy that also includes congressional action to extend the tax cuts enacted during Trump's first term.
Marco Rubio says he's acting head of USAID
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he has been named acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development in remarks to reporters during his trip to Central America.
"I’ve delegated that authority to someone, but I stay in touch with him," Rubio said. "And again, our goal was to go in and align our foreign aid to the national interest. But if you go to mission after mission and embassy after embassy around the world, you will often find that in many cases, USAID is involved in programs that run counter to what we’re trying to do in our national strategy with that country or with that region. That cannot continue."
The update on USAID's leadership comes after Elon Musk said overnight that he and Trump were in the process of shutting it down as an independent agency.
The Trump administration is considering subsuming USAID into the State Department, current and former officials and sources familiar with the discussions previously told NBC News.
Florida-based business to shelve plans over tariffs, CEO says
A Florida-based emblem and patch manufacturer, World Emblem, which operates a plant in Mexico, has been forced to shelve plans it developed in August given the threat of tariffs.
In an interview on MSNBC with José Díaz-Balart, World Emblem CEO Randy Carr expressed concerns over the “uncertainty” and “unpredictability” surrounding the proposed tariffs and said that the company has to plan as if the levies will take effect.
“If this were to occur, we would have to figure out how to either move volume back to the states or offshore into other partners around the world, and reduce product to the point where it made economic sense in Mexico,” he said.
Shifting the operation to the U.S. would not happen overnight, Carr said. “It would take years, not weeks,” he said.
“I hope that this goes away," Carr added. "You know, the concern, I think, is just the unpredictability.”
Hakeem Jeffries says Democrats will unveil bill on 'unlawful' Treasury payment system access
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a letter to his colleagues today that Democrats will introduce legislation to address "unlawful access" to a Treasury Department payment system that contains sensitive information about Americans.
"At my direction, legislation will be introduced shortly to prevent unlawful access to the Department of Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service payment system that contains highly confidential and personal information related to Social Security and Medicare recipients, taxpayers, households, nonprofits, businesses and federal contractors," Jeffries' letter said.
The New York Times reported over the weekend that newly confirmed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent allowed people working with the Elon Musk-run "Department of Government Efficiency" to access the payment system.
DOGE, as it's been called, is not an official government agency, and it's unclear whether people working for the effort have the authority to access the payment system.
The federal government's Rural.gov site is offline
Among the websites that have gone offline under the new Trump administration is Rural.gov, the portal for the federally led Rural Partners Network, which aims to help “rural people build economic development through job creation, infrastructure development, & community improvement,” according to an archived page of the site.
On Monday, a message on the site simply says it is offline.
A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment. A representative for the Department of Agriculture did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While Trump overwhelmingly won in rural counties in November, notable gains occurred in those counties with large Black populations.
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Democratic lawmakers to hold news conference at USAID headquarters
A group of House and Senate Democrats is holding a news conference at the headquarters for USAID, which Elon Musk has said he and Trump are shutting down.
The 1 p.m. ET event will be held by Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, as well as Democratic Reps. Don Beyer and Gerry Connolly of Virginia and Jamie Raskin and Johnny Olszewski of Maryland.
They plan to discuss "the far-reaching consequences of the Trump Administration and Elon Musk’s illegal shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on national security, the economy, and public health," according to a release.