The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced that all direct hire personnel would be put on leave from Friday, February 7, 2025, apart from “designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs.”
In the statement on its website, USAID disclosed that personnel posted overseas will be recalled from their postings within 30 days.
A direct hire is a government official directly employed by the US government, as opposed to contractors, who make up a large part of the USAID workforce.
Many of those contractors have already been furloughed or laid off.
Essential personnel expected to continue working will be informed by Thursday, February 6, 2025, afternoon.
The aid agency said that it would consider case-by-case exceptions and extensions based on “personal or family hardship, mobility or safety concerns, or other reasons.”
“For example, the Agency will consider exceptions based on the timing of dependents’ school term, personal or familial medical needs, pregnancy, and other reasons. Further guidance on how to request an exception will be forthcoming. Thank you for your service.”
US Agency for International Development (USAID)
According to the Congressional Research Service, USAID employs more than 10,000 people, about two-thirds of whom are stationed overseas.
USAID’s announcement comes as the Trump administration is considering abolishing the agency and subsuming its functions into the US Department of State.
Asked by a reporter on Tuesday if he was preparing to “wind down” the agency, US President, Donald Trump said, “I think so.”
The US President said of Elon Musk, the tech billionaire leading the Department of Governmental Efficiency, “Look at all the fraud that he’s found in this USAID.” “It has to be corrupt,” Trump added without evidence.
On Monday, US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio confirmed that he was serving as acting administrator of USAID.
USAID, which disbursed more than half of Washington’s $72bn foreign aid budget in 2023, has become a prime target of the cost-cutting drive spearheaded by tech billionaire Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has called USAID a “criminal organization”, without substantiation, and claimed the agency is a “viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America.”
The aid agency was established in 1961 under President John F. Kennedy’s administration and is the US government’s humanitarian arm.
It dispenses billions of dollars annually across the world in an effort to alleviate poverty, treat diseases, and respond to famines and natural disasters.
USAID’s activities range from providing prosthetic limbs to soldiers injured in Ukraine, to clearing landmines and containing the spread of Ebola in Africa.
Dismantling USAID Deemed Unconstitutional
Critics have accused Trump and Musk of acting beyond their authority, arguing that dismantling USAID through executive action is unconstitutional as the agency’s status was established by an act of Congress.
Many have cautioned that closing USAID’s doors would have devastating effects on vulnerable populations across the world.
Democrats in Washington DC have been particularly critical of the move.
New Jersey Senator, Andy Kim noted on social media, “[USAID is] a foreign policy tool with bipartisan origins that is critical in this dangerous global environment.” He added, “Gutting it means gutting our ability to compete and keep America safe.”
In an interview early this week, US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio had some harsh words for USAID, saying it takes taxpayer funds and “spend(s) it as a global charity irrespective of whether it is in the national interest or not in the national interest.”
“There are things that are happening at USAID that we should not be involved in funding or that we have a lot of questions about, but they are completely uncooperative. So we had no choice but to take dramatic steps to bring this thing under control.”
Marco Rubio
Rubio also suggested that there were portions of USAID’s funding that he supports.
“There are things that we do through USAID that we should continue to do, that makes sense. And we’ll have to decide is that better through the State Department, or is that better through something, a reformed USAID? That’s the process we’re working through.”
Marco Rubio
Rubio also dismissed concerns that scaling back USAID’s presence could allow China to expand its influence in developing nations.
