Hundreds of diplomats at the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development have formally written to Secretary of State Marco Rubio protesting the dismantling of USAID, saying its dismantling undermines U.S. leadership and security and leaves power vacuums for China and Russia to fill. In a cable filed with the department’s internal "dissent channel," which allows diplomats to raise concerns about policy anonymously, the diplomats said the Trump administration’s January 20 freeze on almost all foreign aid also endangers American diplomats and forces overseas while putting at risk the lives of millions abroad that depend on U.S. assistance.