WASHINGTON – The Trump administration appears to be nearing the end of its rapid dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development, informing all but a fraction of staffers worldwide that they were on leave as of Monday and informing at least 1,600 U.S.-based staffers that they were being fired.
The move was the latest and largest step in President Donald Trump and his cost-cutting ally Elon Musk’s campaign to eliminate the six-decade-old aid and development agency as part of a larger effort to shrink the federal government.
The move comes after a federal judge on Friday approved the administration’s plan to lay off thousands of USAID employees in the United States and around the world. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols rejected employees’ requests in a lawsuit to continue temporarily blocking the government’s plan.
“As of 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 23, 2025, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership, and/or specially designated programmes, will be placed on administrative leave globally,” according to notices sent to USAID employees and obtained by The Associated Press.
At the same time, the agency announced in staff notices that it was launching a reduction in force process that would result in the elimination of 2,000 U.S.-based jobs. A later version of the notice, posted on USAID’s website, reduced the number of positions to be eliminated to 1,600.
The administration provided no explanation for the discrepancy. USAID and the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Individual employees began reporting receiving notices of their impending dismissal as a result of the force reduction within hours of receiving the notice.
Deputy Administrator Pete Marocco, a Trump appointee running USAID, has stated that he intends to keep about 600 mostly U.S.-based staffers on the job in the meantime, in part to arrange travel for USAID staffers and their families abroad.
The move escalates a monthlong effort to dismantle the agency, which has included closing its headquarters in Washington and shutting down thousands of aid and development programmes around the world following a freeze on all foreign aid. A judge later temporarily lifted the funding freeze. Trump and Musk argue that USAID’s work is wasteful and promotes a liberal agenda.
Lawsuits filed by government workers’ unions, USAID contractors, and others allege that the administration lacks constitutional authority to abolish an independent agency or congressionally funded programmes without legislative approval.
The Trump administration’s efforts contradict decades of US policy that aid and development work abroad serves national security by stabilising regions and economies and strengthening alliances.
The notices of firings and leaves come on top of hundreds of USAID contractors receiving no-name form letters of termination in the last week, according to copies obtained by AP.
The blanket nature of the notification letters to USAID contractors, which do not include the names or positions of those receiving them, may make it difficult for dismissed workers to obtain unemployment benefits, according to workers.
A different judge in a second lawsuit involving USAID stated this week that the administration had continued to withhold foreign aid despite his order temporarily lifting the funding freeze and must restore funding to programmes worldwide.
Nichols, a Trump appointee, issued a separate ruling on Friday, clearing the way for the administration to begin counting down to a planned 30-day deadline for USAID staffers and their families to return home if they want their travel paid for by the government.
The judge said he was satisfied with Trump administration assurances that workers abroad would be allowed to continue working while on leave after 30 days, even if they chose to remain overseas.
Foreign staffers are concerned that ongoing funding issues and the elimination of the majority of the headquarters staff will make a safe and orderly return difficult, particularly for those with children in school, homes to sell, and ill family members.
USAID’s notice on Sunday stated that it was “committed to keeping its overseas personnel safe” and promised not to cut off USAID staffers abroad from agency systems and other support.
