Senator Chris Van Hollen called new government efficiency czar Elon Musk's bid to shut down the US international development organization USAID a gift to adversaries including Iran.
"Make no mistake this effort by Elon Musk and so-called DOGE to shut down the Agency of international development is an absolute gift to our adversaries, to Russia to China, to Iran and others because AID is an essential instrument of US foreign policy and US national security policy," Van Hollen said.
DOGE is the Department of Government Efficiency formed and led by world's richest man Musk under President Donald Trump. Musk on Monday said Trump wants to shut USAID down, and its offices were closed and employees told to work from home.
"This has nothing to do with making the US government more efficient and everything to do with aiding and abetting our adversaries around the world," the Maryland junior senator told a cheering crowd outside USAID's Washington DC headquarters.
Human rights activists have expressed concern about the impact of Trump's earlier 90-day pause in foreign aid on Iran-related programs, with some saying the order could help Tehran further restrict its people’s access to information.
The United States has supported civil society and human rights in Iran on everything from documenting abuses by Tehran, Washington's Mideast arch enemy, to backing efforts to transcend official internet censorship.
Musk in a discussion broadcast on the social media platform he owns X said USAID was "beyond repair". Trump told reporters on Sunday that USAID had "been run by a bunch of radical lunatics ... We're getting them out, and then we'll make a decision."
