Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is also the director of the US Department of Government Efficiency, has announced that he and President Donald Trump are going to close the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Posting an audio on his social network X on Monday, Musk said that the process of closing USAID has begun.
"It's beyond repair," Musk said, "We're shutting it down." We are in the process of closing USAID. Trump has expressed his support for the decision to close it. According to NBC News , this step has intensified the struggle of Trump and Musk against the federal administration. In addition, the constitutional right of the Parliament to decide where and how to use the budget has also been challenged.
Musk did not mention anything in his post about what is the legal right to shut down federal agencies without parliamentary approval. They have not revealed when to start this process. Musk claims that he has discussed this matter with Trump several times and that he has the full support of the president.
The White House has not commented on the matter. Trump only said on Sunday that Musk was "doing a good job". He criticized USAID as being "run by a bunch of crazy idiots". However, Trump had not announced any plans to close the delegation without the support of the House.
America USAID has been providing considerable financial support to Nepal as well. In 2023, 176 countries were provided with financial assistance worth 68 billion US dollars. Nepal is on the 16th place in the list of countries that the US provides aid to. In the five-year strategic agreement between the Ministry of Finance and USAID in 2022, it is mentioned that 659 million US dollars (79 billion 71 million rupees) will be received. Various programs are being conducted under this grant.
USAID has also been mobilizing grants through NGOs/ INGOs, non-profit companies, etc. USAID's website has been closed in Nepal for a few days now. Browsing the domain of Niyog for Nepal shows a notice saying 'This site can't be reached'.
