The downtown Washington, D.C., Ronald Reagan building will undergo a dramatic shift as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) takes over the longtime headquarters of the Agency for International Development (USAID), Fox News Digital has confirmed.
« CBP has signed a license agreement to occupy approximately 390,000 usable square feet in the USAID tower, » a CBP spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
The news, which was originally reported by Politico, comes after a federal judge on Friday declined to keep in place a temporary block that was preventing President Donald Trump from removing all but a small number of USAID staffers, clearing the way for the administration to continue its dramatic cuts to federal departments, according to a report from the Associated Press.
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USAID, a decades-old foreign assistance agency, was one of the first targets for cuts by the new administration, sparking a lawsuit filed by unions representing federal workers in an attempt to block the layoffs.
The suit accused the Trump administration of stalling medical evacuations for USAID staffers and family members overseas and cutting off contractors from emergency communications while also challenging the constitutionality of the administration’s sudden cuts, which the suit argues requires congressional approval.
« At present, the agency is still standing, » U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols wrote in the ruling. « And so the alleged injuries on which plaintiffs rely in seeking injunctive relief flow essentially from their members’ existing employment relationships with USAID. »
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With the drastic reduction in staffing and the loss of its longtime headquarters, questions remain about the future of USAID and its mission. Earlier this month, the State Department announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been appointed as acting administrator for the agency with an eye toward possible reorganization of its activities under the State Department.
« The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has long strayed from its original mission of responsibly advancing American interests abroad, and it is now abundantly clear that significant portions of USAID funding are not aligned with the core national interests of the United States, » the State Department said in a statement. « As we evaluate USAID and ensure it is in alignment with an America First agenda and the efforts of the State Department, we will continue to protect the American people’s interests and ensure their tax dollars are not wasted. »
Source link : https://www.foxnews.com/politics/border-patrol-taking-control-former-usaid-hq
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Publish date : 2025-02-23 18:45:00
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