Trump says USAID run by "lunatics" as Dems demand answers on DOGE visit

• When asked for comment on USAID, Trump told reporters Sunday evening: "It's been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we're getting them out, and then we'll make a decision" on its future.

The big picture: Senate Democrats said in a statement on their letter to Rubio Sunday they're concerned the Musk-headed DOGE reps' possible unauthorized access of USAID and the subsequent placing on administrative leave of senior personnel from the agency responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance "Compromises our National Security."

Zoom in: The Democrats wrote they've received reports that individuals who identified themselves as working for DOGE accessed classified spaces during their visit and it's unclear whether they had proper security clearances.

• "We understand that the security guards present at the facility were threatened when they raised questions," per the letter from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the SFRC's Democratic members.
• "Following this incident, the senior management of the Office of Security, which secures USAID personnel and facilities and safeguards national security information, were placed on administrative leave," added the Democrats, who said they hadn't been notified of the visit.
• "The potential access of sensitive, even classified, files which may include the personally identifiable information (PII) of Americans working with USAID, and this incident as a whole raises deep concerns about the protection and safeguarding of matters related to U.S. national security."

The intrigue: The USAID website appeared to be offline over the weekend, with www.usaid.gov returning the message: "This site can't be reached."

What they're saying: Responding to a report that two senior USAID officials had been placed on administrative leave, Musk said on X Sunday: "USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die."

• He did not immediately provide evidence of crimes committed.
• Katie Miller, whom Trump appointed to the DOGE advisory board in December, said on X: "No classified material was accessed without proper security clearances."

What we're watching: The Democrats requested "an immediate update" on details of the incident and demanded to know whether "any PII of American citizens was breached, and whether any review is underway regarding potential unauthorized access to sensitive personnel information and classified materials."

Zoom out: House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Brian Mast (Fla.) Mast said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday he's working with Rubio on addressing State Department reauthorization and "the purging of people throughout the State Department, other agencies, when we're freezing aid."

• When CBS' Margaret Brennan asked for clarification, Mast said: "If you want to take a look at the State Department, where DEI has been a priority over, let's say, diplomacy on many accounts."
• The Senate Democrats said in their letter any effort to "merge or fold" the Congress-established USAID into the State Department "should be, and by law must be, previewed, discussed, and approved by Congress."
• Representatives for the State Department and the White House did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Read the Democrats' letter, via DocumentCloud:

More from Axios:

• Musk says Trump has agreed to "shut" USAID down
• What to know about Trump's freeze on foreign aid

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.