Marco Rubio caused anger among the MAGA faithful when he fired USAID hatchet man Pete Marocco after the pair allegedly butted heads over differing operating styles, according to Politico.
Marocco, the State Department official who helped Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency goon squad take apart the United States Agency for International Development, lasted just three months before he was told he was out.
His axing became “the first MAGA world killing from inside the White House,” one source told Politico.
It also caused a wave of discontent with the secretary of state, the publication added, citing various anonymous sources. Marocco was viewed as a “die hard” loyalist to the President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, while doubts around Rubio’s commitment stubbornly linger.
After news broke earlier this week of Marocco’s exit, insiders told The Wall Street Journal that a clash of styles between him and Rubio was a contributing factor.
Rubio reportedly wanted cuts to USAID to be less far-reaching, whereas Morocco demanded a more hardline approach. Marocco ultimately helped cull 83 percent of foreign aid programs and shutter USAID.
And now he is out. Four Trump administration officials and allies told Politico that it was Rubio himself who hand-delivered Marocco’s pink slip.
One of the anonymous insiders said that while Rubio took issue with his colleague’s hardline approach to dismantling USAID, it was this bulldozer style that ingratiated him to other Trump loyalists in the State Department—causing a backlash for the secretary of state when he was ousted.
“Loud voices on the right piled on Secretary of State Marco Rubio, accusing him of undermining their disruptive agenda,” Politico reported.
The publication also cited a Trump ally who said Rubio’s decision “is gonna bite him.”
“He’s really not a MAGA guy, he’s a neocon,” they said.
Some commentators argue that the Republican Party is divided between true, hardline Trump loyalists willing to do anything to deliver on his policies and neoconservatives whose approach stymies Trump’s quick progress.
Rubio’s MAGA critics pondered why he was allegedly keen to protect some USAID programs, while Marocco was keen to deploy the slash-and-burn tactics used by DOGE chief Elon Musk to gut other federal agencies.
“That’s where the fight happened. They did not see eye to eye on killing USAID off forever or keeping part of it around,” the White House official said.
However, a State Department official denied that was Rubio’s approach at all.
The Politico report also cited another official who said the decision to fire Marocco wasn’t ideological and was merely down to the fact that he upset the apple cart at the agency.
“It wasn’t just Rubio who wanted him moved,” the official said. “It was a group decision, including people from the White House, who were getting complaints about him.”
Another official echoed that sentiment, saying Marocco was “flying blind” and ignoring advice and offers of help from career employees.
Indeed, Marocco has a history of annoying his colleagues. So much so that when he was parachuted in at USAID’s Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization, staffers drafted a lengthy complaint, largely about him.
Details have also emerged about the embarrassing way in which Marocco learned his fate. It was known already that after a meeting at the White House last week, he was reportedly told to return his laptop and agency badge.
Now, Politico reports that Marocco had traveled to work as normal before finding out he couldn’t get through the secure door—the hard way. Security then reportedly told him he wasn’t an employee anymore.
The White House has been contacted for comment.
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