Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz said on Monday he is putting a "blanket hold" on all of President Donald Trump's nominees for State Department positions over the intended shutdown of USAID, which is being spearheaded by Elon Musk.
"Dismantling USAID is illegal and makes us less safe. USAID was created by federal law and is funded by Congress. Donald Trump and Elon Musk can't just wish it away with a stroke of a pen — they need to pass a law," Schatz said in a statement.
He added that "until and unless unless this brazenly authoritarian action is reversed and USAID is functional again," no nominees will be appointed to positions in the department. "This is self-inflicted chaos of epic proportions that will have dangerous consequences all around the world."
The "blanket hold" means Democrats will not agree to hold quick votes for nominees before the full Senate, delaying confirmations across the board. Since the GOP has a majority in the Upper House, all candidates can be confirmed in a party-line vote, but it will take more time than intended to do so.
"We will use every power that we have at our disposal in the US Senate. My colleagues will do the same thing in the House. This is a constitutional crisis that we are in today," said Sen. Chris Murphy, elaborating on Schatz's decision.
"Let's not pull any punches about why this is happening. Elon Musk makes billions of dollars off of his business with China. And China is cheering at this action today. There is no question that the billionaire class trying to take over our government right now is doing it based on self interest."
The tool is not new nor infrequent, with Republicans using it several times during the Biden administration in protest of some measures.
USAID employees were told not to report to work on Monday after Elon Musk claimed that President Donald Trump agreed with him to shut down the agency.
At least 600 personnel said they were locked out of the USAID's database overnight while staffers with access received emails that said headquarters "will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, Feb. 3," the Associated Press reported. The agency's website also went dark on Sunday as Trump froze U.S. foreign aid.
"It became apparent that it's not an apple with a worm in it," Musk said in a live session on X Spaces early Monday. "What we have is just a ball of worms. You've got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It's beyond repair," he said. "We're shutting it down," he added.
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