WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump’s administration announced plans Friday to effectively close the US international development agency USAID, formalizing widely-criticized plans to dramatically cut foreign aid spending.

“Today, the Department of State and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have notified Congress of their intent to undertake a reorganization that would involve realigning certain USAID functions to the Department by July 1, 2025,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

The State Department, he said, also plans on “discontinuing the remaining USAID functions that do not align with Administration priorities.”

“Unfortunately, USAID strayed from its original mission long ago,” he said. “As a result, the gains were too few and the costs were too high.”

After taking office in January, Republican President Donald Trump signed an executive order freezing US foreign aid for 90 days.

Dramatic cuts to various USAID programs followed, with some exemptions granted for vital humanitarian aid.

The aid freeze has caused shock and dismay at the independent agency created by an act of the US Congress in 1961.

Senate Democrats on the Committee on Foreign Relations denounced the move, stating that the reorganization “will not only render it impossible for any retained USAID programs to be implemented, but the burden placed on the State Department will cause........

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