Pete Marocco, key figure in USAID overhaul, leaves State Department

His sudden exit comes as the department works to integrate the remnants of USAID into the State Department by mid-August. Marocco had been serving as the acting head of foreign aid, overseeing the agency's operations.

Sources indicate that Marocco is expected to take on a new role within the administration, although the State Department has not officially commented on his departure.

The State Department did not provide an official comment on Marocco's departure. However, a statement from the department's press office that was attributed to a "senior administration official" praised Marocco for finding "egregious abuses of taxpayer dollars" during his tenure. The statement provided no examples of such abuses, The New York Times reported.

Marocco had joined the State Department in late January to oversee foreign aid and was later appointed as the acting deputy of USAID by Marco Rubio, the acting administrator, in February. Rubio has publicly justified the reduction in foreign aid, stating it was essential to curb the excessive use of such funds.

The New York Times further reported that Marocco left the deputy role last month, and his duties were taken over by Jeremy Lewin, a 28-year-old employee of the government-cutting task force headed by Elon Musk, the billionaire adviser to Trump.

Marocco and members of Musk's team entered the headquarters of USAID in late January to dismantle the agency's technical infrastructure, and Musk later called it a "criminal organisation" on social media.

Marocco's departure was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Sunday. He had a brief tenure at USAID during Trump's first term and has also worked at the State Department and the Pentagon.

In 2020, employees at USAID filed a memo accusing Marocco of mismanagement, urging immediate intervention.

Morocco had also served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for African Affairs. In this capacity, he led US defence policy across Africa, and served as the senior defence official charged with countering the continent's transnational threats to American citizens, the US homeland, and US allies and partners.

He was responsible for strengthening partner capacity, enhancing cooperation, and working with the United States Africa Command on national security priorities.