Trump administration lays off almost all the staff at USAID: Report

The Trump administration has begun mass layoffs at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Some 4,200 employees were placed on administrative leave, while at least 1,600 have been fired. This drastic decision comes after several months during which the administration has suffered repeated legal defeats and is the latest in the president’s ongoing efforts aimed at cutting federal costs and downsizing the U.S. government workforce.

Founded in 1961, USAID traditionally remained at the forefront of humanitarian aid with presence in over 60 countries around the globe. The recent move to downsize, however, has rekindled concerns among critics who claim that such actions erode the U.S.’s commitment to international aid and cast aspersions on the future of vital global programs.

Before these layoff actions, the agency was employing around 10,000 people, and now more than half of its workforce will be affected by the decision. Following a few legal challenges, a federal judge granted the administration approval to cut costs and lay off as many employees as deemed fit in what became one of its more recent attempts to halt this decision. Judge Carl Nichols’ ruling on Friday clears the path for this staffing reduction. Still, how many, if any, of those on leave are eventually going to be reemployed is unclear.

In a notice to employees, USAID’s Office of the Administrator stated that all employees besides the essential and leadership personnel would be put on administrative leave. Earlier the agency identified 611 employees to be critical to the functioning of ongoing operations. Similarly, it will provide voluntary repatriation travel for staff working overseas.

The layoffs and staff cuts represent a consolidation scheme by billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who has been working with the Trump Administration to streamline the federal government. Musk is recently the one to demand that government employees list what they accomplished in the last week, which invited confusion in a myriad of government agencies.

USAID’s proposed cuts will be far-reaching in their effects on global aid. Since Trump announced his intention to cut back on the agency in January, aid programs have been frozen or delayed in hundreds of countries; millions of people depend on U.S. support. Critics like former USAID chief Gayle Smith are warning that these programs send a very dangerous message, showing that the U.S. withdraws from its role as a reliable global partner.

On Saturday, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Trump declared that his administration had “very effectively ended the left-wing scam known as USAID,” something Musk has expressed in relation to the outsized overseas spending of the U.S.