WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration said on Sunday it was placing all personnel at the foreign assistance agency USAID, except leaders and critical staff, on paid administrative leave and eliminating 1,600 positions in the United States.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has led an effort to gut the U.S. Agency for International Development, the main delivery mechanism for American foreign assistance and a critical tool of U.S. “soft power” for winning influence abroad.
US aid agency places global staff on leave
“I regret to inform you that you are affected by a Reduction in Force action,” said an email sent to one of the workers being fired that was reviewed by Reuters.
Those who got the note will be let go from federal service effective April 24, the email said.
USAID said on its website that just before midnight on Sunday U.S. Eastern Time, all direct hires except essential workers will be put on leave and 1,600 USAID personnel in the U.S. would be cut.
An earlier notice sent to staff and reviewed by Reuters said about 2,000 U.S. positions would be eliminated.
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 put thousands of USAID workers on leave, a setback for government employee unions that are suing over what they have called an effort to dismantle it.
Two former senior USAID officials estimated that a majority of some 4,600 USAID personnel, career U.S. Civil Service and Foreign Service staffers, would be placed on administrative leave.
“This administration and Secretary (of State Marco) Rubio are shortsighted in cutting into the expertise and unique crisis response capacity of the U.S.,” said Marcia Wong, one of the former officials.
“When disease outbreaks occur, populations displaced, these USAID experts are on the ground and first deployed to help stabilize and provide aid.”
Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on January 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe.
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The administration has approved exceptions to the freeze totaling $5.3 billion, mostly for security and counter-narcotics programs, according to a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters that included limited humanitarian relief.
USAID programs got less than $100 million in exemptions, compared to roughly $40 billion in programs it administered annually before the freeze.
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