The administration of President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that it is placing all employees of the foreign aid agency USAID, except for leaders and key staff, on paid administrative leave and eliminating 1,600 jobs in the United States.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has led efforts to dismantle the USAID, the main delivery mechanism for US foreign aid and a key tool of US “soft power” for gaining influence abroad.
“I regret to inform you that you have been affected by the workforce reduction,” said an email to one of the employees being laid off, seen by Reuters. Those who received the message will be dismissed from federal service effective April 24, according to the email.
USAID announced on its website that shortly before midnight on Sunday, EST, all direct employees except essential employees will be placed on leave and that 1,600 USAID employees in the US will be laid off.
An earlier notice sent to staff, reviewed by Reuters, said about 2,000 US jobs would be cut.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Friday, a federal judge cleared the way for the Trump administration to place thousands of USAID employees on administrative leave, a setback for civil service unions suing over what they called efforts to disband.
Two former senior USAID officials estimated that most of the approximately 4,600 USAID employees, career US Civil Service and Foreign Service employees, will be placed on administrative leave.
“This administration and (Secretary of State Marco) Rubio are short-sighted in their cuts to experts and unique US crisis response capabilities,” said Marcia Wong, one of the former officials. “When diseases break out, displacement of the population begins, these USAID experts are on the ground and are the first to be deployed to help with stabilization and provide assistance,” she pointed out.
Trump ordered a 90-day freeze on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight hunger and deadly disease to sheltering millions of displaced people around the world.
The administration approved exemptions from the freeze totaling $5.3 billion, mostly for security and counternarcotics programs, according to a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters, which includes limited humanitarian aid.
USAID programs received less than $100 million in waivers, compared to roughly $40 billion in programs it conducted annually before the freeze.
