WASHINGTON—In a significant move under the Trump administration, thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) workers have been either dismissed or put on leave as part of efforts to drastically reduce the size of the agency. This Thursday and Friday, affected employees are being permitted a brief period to clear out their workspace.
Starting Monday, USAID placed 4,080 personnel working globally on leave, combined with a “reduction in force” affecting an additional 1,600 employees, a spokesperson from the State Department confirmed in response to inquiries.
USAID has emerged as a central focus of a wider initiative under President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, aimed at dramatically shrinking federal government structures. The measures at the agency have left only a small number of its staff still active.
The administration, spearheaded by Trump and Musk, has acted quickly to systematically dismantle the foreign aid division, citing its programs as misaligned with Republican policy goals and labeling them unproductive without presenting substantial evidence. Their moves are notable for bypassing Congress, which initially authorized and funded USAID.
A Congressional Research Service report earlier in the month clarified that congressional approval is necessary to dismantle, relocate, or merge USAID. Yet, there has been a lack of resistance from Republican-controlled Congress, with most of USAID’s contracts and operations, amounting to over $60 billion in global assistance, already marked for elimination.
The exact number of affected employees from the more than 5,600 fired or placed on leave working at the main headquarters in Washington remains unclear. The agency’s website communicated that staff based elsewhere will have the opportunity to collect personal items later.
The notice detailed a schedule for different employee groups to be screened and escorted back to their workstations. Departing staff must return all agency-issued equipment, whereas employees on administrative leave should keep any materials, including diplomatic passports, until their official separation from USAID.
Some employees described the administration’s conditions for retrieving personal items as demeaning. Workers are instructed not to bring any form of weapons, like “spear guns” and “hand grenades,” and are given only 15 minutes to collect their things.
The substantial reduction of the federal government is mired in legal challenges, yet attempts to temporarily stop the agency’s closure so far have failed. However, a federal judge mandated that the Trump administration release billions meant for U.S. foreign aid this week, criticizing their non-compliance with a two-week-old ruling to relax the aid freeze. The Supreme Court temporarily halted that order late Wednesday, pending further review.
This legal action emerged from a lawsuit by nonprofit entities responding to the cessation of USAID and State Department foreign assistance funded through an executive order issued by Trump on his first day in office targeting perceived superfluous initiatives.
Virginia Democrat Rep. Gerald Connolly described the USAID staff reduction as “unwarranted and unprecedented,” praising the agency as a leading global development and aid entity that potentially saves millions of lives annually.
