The Trump administration has begun a significant reduction in staffing at the U.S. Agency for International Development, ordering nearly all directly-hired employees to take leave-an action aligned with the Republican agenda to drastically cut government functions.
In a statement on Tuesday, USAID confirmed that all direct hire personnel would be placed on leave beginning on Friday with only critical personnel, core leadership, and specially designated programs exempt. The agency also said personnel stationed abroad would be called back within 30 days.
USAID noted that exceptions would be considered on a case-by-case basis, most especially for issues of personal or family hardship, mobility or safety concerns, and other compelling reasons. Individual circumstances regarding dependents school term dates, medical requirements, and pregnancy are also to be considered. Further instructions on the process for requesting these exceptions would follow.
The agency has over 10,000 staff, approximately two-thirds of whom work abroad, says the Congressional Research Service. This news has come amidst rumors within the Trump administration to dismantle USAID and fold its operations into the U.S. Department of State. Asked by a reporter if he planned to “wind down” the agency, Trump replied, “I think so.”
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that he is serving as the acting administrator of USAID.
USAID, which doled out more than half of Washington’s $72 billion foreign aid budget in 2023, has emerged as a particular target of cost-cutting driven by tech billionaire Elon Musk and his new Department of Government Efficiency. Musk has called USAID a “criminal organization” and characterized it as a “viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America,” although no evidence has been offered to support such allegations.
Critics say that is overreach, and both Trump and Musk will be overstepping their authority since any action to end USAID would be unconstitutional via executive, since it was created by an act of Congress.
