Marco Rubio hands off one of his four jobs in Trump administration
Published in News & Features
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is down to three jobs in the Trump administration, ditching one of his four roles just in time for Labor Day.
Rubio handed over the responsibilities for leading the U.S. Agency for International Development to Russell Vought, who serves as budget director for the administration.
The secretary of state, who also serves as national security adviser and head of the National Archives, has joked about the many hats he wears for President Donald Trump.
At a Cabinet meeting earlier this week, Rubio started off his report saying: “Personally, this is the most meaningful Labor Day of my life, as someone who has four jobs.”
There was much laughter in the room.
But Rubio handed off oversight of USAID at Trump’s request, the secretary wrote on social media.
“I joked with @POTUS that I had four jobs. He told me to give one to my friend @RussVought47. So I did,” he wrote in post on X Friday morning. “Since January, we’ve saved the taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. And with a small set of core programs moved over to the State Department, USAID is officially in close out mode. Russ is now at the helm to oversee the closeout of an agency that long ago went off the rails. Congrats, Russ.”
Vought, who heads the Office of Management and Budget, also serves as the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
This now brings him up to three jobs — on par with Rubio.
USAID, which was the government’s largest assistance agency, was one of the first agencies targeted by the Department of Government Efficiency, formerly run by Elon Musk.
Its functions were transferred to the State Department on July 1. Much of its staff is on administrative leave and a few hundred will be absorbed into roles at State. Vought will oversee the final stages of its shutdown.
Rubio’s announcement came as he prepares to make his fourth trip to the Western Hemisphere next week, when he’ll visit Mexico and Ecuador.
The secretary of state became the subject of friendly banter about his many roles as he accumulated responsibilities in the administration, which many said showed Trump’s trust in him.
Some of his colleagues kidded he should take on even more work.
When Catholic cardinals gathered in Rome in May for an enclave to pick the new pope, many joked Rubio — a devote Catholic — should get that job too.
“I think he can take on one more,” Vice President JD Vance wrote on X.
Rubio gamely went along with the joke, before noting he wasn’t qualified for the job given his status as a married man.
“We thought about it, but you have to be an unmarried Catholic,” he told Fox News.
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