US foreign aid website goes offline in Trump administration’s freeze

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks after being sworn in. Picture: AP/Evan Vucci

The website of the US Agency for International Development went offline without explanation on Saturday as thousands of furloughs, lay-offs and programme shutdowns continued in President Donald Trump’s freeze on US-funded foreign aid

Congressional Democrats battled the Trump administration increasingly openly, expressing concern the president may be headed toward ending USAID as an independent agency and absorbing it into the State Department.