by Elaine Mallon at Washington Examiner
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he is the acting administrator of the United States Agency for International Development after Department of Government Efficiency Chairman Elon Musk announced the Trump administration’s plans to shut the agency down.
Over the past few days, the Trump administration made several moves to curtail the USAID, including putting two senior security officials on leave and closing the federal headquarters.
The lightning-fast moves to put the USAID under Rubio’s control could mean the State Department is not properly staffed. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) responded to the Trump administration’s moves by promising he would place a “blanket hold” on all future State Department nominees until the aid agency is freed up from the pressure campaign.
“I will oppose unanimous consent,” Schatz told the Wall Street Journal. “I will vote no. I will do maximal delays until this is resolved.”
Rebellion from the Senate is a first for Rubio,…