Internal State Dept memo reveals top brass question if feds should be ‘in the business of philanthropy’

FIRST ON FOX: Top brass at the Department of State are questioning if the U.S. government’s role should include working “in the philanthropy business” as the Trump administration uncovers a trove of mismanagement and overspending in recent years. 

“No one will argue with the philanthropic nature of foreign assistance,” Pete Marocco, the director of the Office of Foreign Assistance — which sits under the State Department’s federal umbrella — said to a group of faith-based organizations Friday. “So, this leads to another question I put before you today. Is it the proper role of government to be in the business of philanthropy?” 

“If U.S. foreign aid is only reaching 10% of its intended target, and the private sector is reaching the right people 87% of the time, this is a fundamental, age-old question we must return to and take seriously,” he continued. “It’s imperative for foreign assistance to land in the right hands of the right people for the right reasons.” 

Marocco’s comments were detailed in an internal State Department memo obtained by Fox News Digital that recapped a meeting between government officials and a group of roughly 25 faith-based organizations, which worked to engage the organizations in a “candid discussion about how their work supports and enhances U.S. foreign assistance goals under the America First framework.” 

The “listening session” meeting was invitation-only and moderated by Albert T. Gombis, acting under secretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights, and director of global criminal justice, Fox Digital learned. 

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Pete Marocco in Bogota, Colombia, in 2019. (Getty Images)

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Chair Elon Musk and the Trump administration have been on a warpath in recent weeks against the United States Agency for International Development’s history of reported overspending and mismanagement. USAID is an independent U.S. agency that was established under the Kennedy administration to administer economic aid to foreign nations. 

Musk has characterized the agency as “a viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America.”

Elon Musk has characterized USAID as “a viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America.” (Annabelle Gordon/Reuters)

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In January, President Donald Trump issued a near-total freeze on foreign aid through the agency and has since terminated thousands of employees and appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the agency’s acting director, moves that have received staunch pushback from Democrats and federal employees. 

The freeze on payments was hit with lawsuits, with the Supreme Court Wednesday dealing a blow to the administration when it denied its request to block a lower court’s ruling for the administration to pay nearly $2 billion in foreign aid money. 

In a 5–4 ruling, the justices said a Feb. 26 deadline imposed by a lower court for the Trump administration to pay the funds already had expired, and directed the case back to the district court to clarify any additional details on payment.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a visit to aircraft maintenance firm Aeroman in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, Feb. 3, 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press)

The internal State Department memo continued that Marocco explained to the group of faith-based organizations that the Trump administration is “intentionally disrupting the system to identify and root out significant problems” with its foreign aid programs. 

“As you know, we’re in the midst of conducting a review of U.S. foreign aid programs,” the memo said of the director’s opening remarks. “It’s challenging because we’re taking a very different approach from other reviews. Our review is starting from zero – a zero-based methodology. That means we are intentionally disrupting the system to identify and root out significant problems. Yes, this is causing unintended consequences for some programs, and those issues are being addressed separate from this forum.” 

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“The truth is: the American people have lost faith in foreign assistance. They’ve lost faith in how we carry out this work. Nevertheless, today you’re here to think big and tell us how foreign assistance can be optimally effective,” he added. 

Trump went to Capitol Hill Tuesday evening to deliver his first address to a joint session of Congress since returning to the White House in January. In the speech, Trump celebrated his administration’s immediate pause to foreign aid. 

In his speech to Congress Tuesday, President  Trump celebrated his administration’s immediate pause to foreign aid. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Every day my administration is fighting to deliver the change America needs to bring a future that America deserves, and we’re doing it,” Trump said Tuesday evening. ‘This is a time for big dreams and bold action. Upon taking office, I imposed an immediate freeze on all federal hiring, a freeze on all new federal regulations and a freeze on all foreign aid.” 

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The 47th president continued in his speech that Musk and DOGE have identified $22 billion in government “waste” across various federal agencies, including USAID. 

“Forty-five million dollars for diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma,” Trump said as he rattled off various examples of federal waste. “Forty million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is. Eight million to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of. Sixty million dollars for indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian empowerment in Central America. Sixty million. Eight million for making mice transgender.”

President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, March 4, 2025. (Ben Curtis/The Associated Press)

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Democrats and government employees have railed against the Trump administration and DOGE’s work auditing the federal government, and some Democratic lawmakers even held up signs reading “Musk lies” during Trump’s address Tuesday.

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.