2,000 USAID staff to be cut, others put on administrative leave

The Trump administration is putting all civil servants employed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on administrative leave beginning Monday at midnight, according to a notice reviewed by The Hill.

At the same time, 2,000 staff are expected to be cut from the agency in the U.S., part of a “Reduction-in-Force,” reads the notice delivered from the Office of the Administrator. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is the acting USAID administrator, but no name is on the order.

The notice comes following a federal judge on Friday refusing to renew a temporary block against the Trump administration and its intent to fire or place on “administrative leave” thousands of employees.

Following the order, hundreds of employees contracted to work with USAID were fired. In one bureau providing lifesaving humanitarian assistance, one USAID official estimated the firing of contractors cut staff by between 40 and 60 percent.

“There is no one left to do any work,” the USAID official said, requesting anonymity to protect against retaliation.

The move to eliminate thousands of USAID’s workforce marks another chapter in the Trump administration’s attack on the independent agency, the primary venue for America’s distribution of lifesaving humanitarian and developmental assistance.

The Trump administration first ordered all staff be put on administrative leave Feb. 2, which was initially blocked by a court order six days later.

President Trump and his officials have focused on dismantling the agency in the wake of an initial blanket freeze on all U.S. foreign assistance.

While Rubio said he is approving waivers to exempt lifesaving humanitarian assistance and allow that USAID work to continue, the mass reductions in staff are eliminating key roles for carrying it out.

Trump delegated tech billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency to root out what he and his supporters describe as wasteful and fraudulent spending and accused USAID of operating with a liberal bias.

The administrator’s order putting staff on administrative leave impacts all USAID staff in the U.S. and around the world. Some staff are expected to be notified by 5 p.m. Feb. 23 that they are exempt, with their positions deemed “mission critical,” part of “core leadership and/or specially designated programs.”

The administration further is recalling overseas personnel, providing a “voluntary Agency-funded return travel program and other benefits,” according to another notice reviewed by The Hill.

In the court ruling issued Friday, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols said USAID employees “overstated” the harm those employees stood to face if put on administrative leave.

“The record now reflects that no USAID employee stationed abroad has been or imminently will be required to return to the United States within thirty days,” Nichols wrote. “Rather, as matters presently stand, USAID employees stationed abroad have been given a choice.”

The administrative leave order likely impacts the agency's civil servant workforce, staff who undergo thorough and exhaustive hiring procedures, are vetted for classified security clearances, are highly educated and experienced, and are put in the system with an expectation of decades of service.

One USAID official, who requested anonymity to protect against retaliation, described the past month as “psychological torment.”

While staff on administrative leave may retain access to their emails and USAID systems, they are not permitted to do work.

"If most civil servants in D.C. go back on admin leave tonight, you will have a few handfuls of civil servants left and they cannot do the work — in skill set or in numbers — of the bureau," the USAID official said.

"We are, for now, dead. Last night and all week we lost centuries of collective experience."

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