The Trump administration is crafting plans to reorganize the U.S. Agency for International Development, which had been dismantled by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, according to a memo detailing the plans.

The agency would be renamed the U.S. Agency for International Humanitarian Assistance and fall under the control of the State Department to help enhance national security and counter adversaries like China , according to the memo, viewed by The Wall Street Journal. USAID had long operated as an independent agency with its own administrator.

During its first few weeks, the Trump administration, aided by DOGE, effectively took apart the 10,000-person agency and the thousands of people in nonprofits and other groups who work with it. In the process, the agency’s headquarters were closed, its name taken off the building and most of its staff put on paid leave.

It is unclear whether a federal judge’s ruling earlier this week that DOGE’s dismantling of USAID was unconstitutional will have an impact on the administration’s new plans. The order from Judge Theodore D. Chuang in Maryland directed DOGE to halt its work to close the agency and reinstate access to electronic systems for employees and contractors who were shut out.

The judge also took aim at Musk himself, spending pages wading through White House comments and social-media posts about the role played by the billionaire, an adviser and close ally of President Trump.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio , who was named the acting administrator of the agency, told lawmakers in early February that he intended to work with Congress to reorganize USAID rather than eliminate it. “The Department of State and other pertinent entities will be consulting with Congress and the appropriate committees to reorganize and absorb certain bureaus, offices, and missions of USAID,” Rubio wrote to lawmakers.

The memo provides some of the earliest clues of the administration’s vision for USAID’s next chapter. Details of the memo were earlier reported by Politico.

“Any changes to the structure of USAID will be done in consultation with Congress and will be subject to congressional notification,” a State Department spokesperson said.

USAID’s mission had become too broad and created disincentives in certain countries to invest in their own reforms, the memo stated. High-cost programs that don’t provide strong returns to U.S. taxpayers should be eliminated, and programs shouldn’t be solely philanthropic but should advance American national security, strategic and commercial interests, the memo said.

The proposed new structure aims to project American soft power and enhance national security, with a focus on countering competitors such as China. Multiple USAID bureaus, including those for Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East would be eliminated, according to the memo.

Politically oriented programs, including the promotion of democracy, empowering women, religious freedom and combating human trafficking, will be redirected to other sections of the State Department, according to the memo.

The proposed USAID overhaul is poised to elevate some officials with relatively little experience overseeing teams of foreign-aid workers.

Marcus Thornton, the new deputy chief of staff, according to an internal email viewed by the Journal, had previously worked as a human resources officer at the U.S. Embassy in Honduras, before being promoted to help organize the return of USAID workers overseas under the Trump administration.

Thornton is still listed online as the president and co-founder of Feds for Freedom, a group that challenged the federal government’s previous Covid-19 vaccine mandates.

Thornton said in a video posted on social media in July 2023 that he had been pushed out of his earlier post in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, “as a consequence of exercising my constitutional rights” and alleging the State Department was retaliating against him after his group sued the agency over the vaccine mandate.

Write to Scott Patterson at scott.patterson@wsj.com and Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com