USAID placed 4,080 staffers who work across the globe on leave Monday. That was joined by a "reduction in force” that will affect another 1,600 employees, a State Department spokesman said in an emailed response to questions.
USAID has been one of the biggest targets so far as part of a broad campaign by President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency, a project of Trump adviser Elon Musk, to remove fraud and waste from the federal government.
Trump and Musk have moved swiftly to shutter the foreign aid agency, saying many of its programs are a waste of taxpayers' money.
It’s unclear how many of the more than 5,600 USAID employees who have been fired or placed on leave work at the agency's headquarters building in Washington. A notice on the agency's website said staff at other locations will have the chance to collect their personal belongings at a later date.
The notice laid out instructions for when specific groups of employees should arrive to be screened by security and escorted to their former workspaces. Those being let go must turn in all USAID-issued assets. Workers on administrative leave were told to retain their USAID-issued materials, including diplomatic passports, “until such time that they are separated from the agency.”
