Staffers for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) were shut out of the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) headquarters in D.C. on Wednesday, amid an escalating fight over leadership of the agency.
Several DOGE workers tried to enter the agency’s office in Washington on Wednesday but were “unable to access” it, the USADF confirmed to The Hill. The staffers eventually left the building, the agency said. The Hill reached out to DOGE for comment.
The agency’s chair, Ward Brehm, wrote in a letter to a DOGE staffer obtained by The Hill that he “specifically instructed the staff of USADF to adhere to our rules and procedure of not allowing any meetings of this type without my presence.”
President Trump is reportedly attempting to install Peter Marocco, the deputy acting head of the U.S. Agency for International Aid (USAID) who has overseen Trump’s attempts to gut the agency, to lead the USADF. Marocco was reportedly present alongside the DOGE team Wednesday.
Brehm in his letter suggested that Trump needed to officially appoint Marocco to the independent agency’s board before he has power over its operations.
“I will look forward to working with Mr. Marocco after such time that he is nominated for a seat on the Board and his nomination is confirmed by the Senate,” Brehm said in the letter. “Until these legal requirements are met, Mr. Marocco does not hold any position or office with USADF, and he may not speak or act on the Foundation’s behalf.”
President Trump issued an executive order on Feb. 19 calling for the elimination of the “non-statutory components and functions” of the USADF, along with Presidio Trust, the Inter-American Foundation and the U.S. Institute of Peace.
Trump said in the directive that leaders of the mentioned agencies would be required to submit reports within two weeks to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) “confirming compliance with this order and stating whether the governmental entity, or any components or functions thereof, are statutorily required and to what extent.”
The USADF is an independent agency, created in 1980, to support small enterprises and grassroots groups that serve marginalized populations and communities across Africa.
The agency says that between 2019 and 2023, it awarded more than $141 million in grants to more than 1,050 community enterprises in Africa, directly impacting 6.2 million people on the continent.
Brehm said in the letter that “we have fully cooperated to date with the President’s request that we temporarily cease disbursing any funds, and as requested, we have submitted to OMB our report describing USADF’s statutory mission and the resources required for the Foundation to fulfill that mission.”
Democrats issued a letter on Feb. 24 arguing Trump does not have the authority to effectively shut down the congressionally authorized agency.
“Any attempt to unilaterally dismantle the USADF through executive action violates the law and exceeds the constitutional limits of executive authority,” they wrote.
Trump’s mid-February executive order is part of the administration’s broader push to drastically scale back foreign aid and effectively shut down USAID, folding some programs into the State Department.
Marocco has made little effort to alleviate bipartisan concern, particularly around lifesaving work overseen by U.S. entities around the world.
Marocco said in a private meeting with House Foreign Affairs Committee lawmakers on Wednesday that the administration may bring criminal referrals against USAID workers or recipients of the agency’s grants over allegations of misuse of foreign aid, The Hill reported.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a statement on Saturday criticizing Trump’s apparent attempts to dismantle USAFD along with the Inter-American Foundation.
“President’s Trump attempt to bypass the law and install his unconfirmed loyalist as an Acting Chair of the Boards of both the Inter-American Foundation (IAF) and the United States African Development Foundation (USADF) as a means to terminate their programs and their staff is unlawful and unacceptable,” Shaheen said.
“By statute, the Boards of Directors are to be appointed by the President and subject to Senate confirmation,” the senator added. “If President Trump wishes to nominate new Board members, he can submit nominations to the Senate — as the law requires.”
