According to USC 6601 — which is the current law — the President literally has the power to abolish USAID entirely, and only has to submit a report about it to do it. [1] Saying that closing the HQ and assigning a Republican as the head of USAID is "illegal" or "should not be possible without an act of Congress" doesn't make sense. Congress already passed an act allowing the President to terminate USAID. Congress does not mandate that USAID exists forever, and does not prevent the President from terminating it or streamlining it.

1: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:22%20section:...

That is not at all what that says...

… did you read the first sentence???

> Not later than 60 days after October 21, 1998

I’m pretty sure it’s now 2025, which is more than 60 days after Oct 21, 1998. Therefore, the president does not have power to abolish USAID. Please try again.

Ah, my read of that was that as of October 21, 1998, the President would have to submit a report to close USAID (whereas previously the President did not have to submit a report). However, your reading makes more sense.

It’s not his reading. It’s the only reading.

Did you read the bottom? Clinton already executed this in 1999.

>> Memorandum of President of the United States, Mar. 31, 1999, 64 F.R. 17079, provided...

Uh, that obviously cannot be executing a power that expired 60 days after October 21, 1998.

(It was actually delegating power to revise the USAID reorganization plan—which was not a abolition—and to set the effective date of then part of the reorg that was not transfer of mandatory functions to the Secretary of State.)