Thousands of US Agency for International Development workers who've been fired or placed on leave as part of the Trump administration's dismantling of the agency are being given a brief window Thursday and Friday to clear out their workspaces. In total, about 15 minutes, the AP reports. 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 rep said. The actions leave only a fraction of its employees on the job.
President Trump and Elon Musk of the Department of Government Efficiency have moved swiftly to shutter the foreign aid agency, calling its programs out of line with the president's agenda and asserting without evidence that its work is wasteful. In addition to its scope, their effort is extraordinary because it has not involved Congress, which authorized the agency and has provided its funding. A report from the Congressional Research Service earlier this month said congressional authorization is required "to abolish, move, or consolidate USAID," but the Republican majorities in the House and Senate have made no pushback against the administration's actions.
There's virtually nothing left to fund, anyway: The administration now says it is eliminating more than 90% of USAID's foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in US assistance around the world. A notice on the agency's website laid out instructions for when employees at the agency's headquarters building in Washington should arrive to be screened by security and escorted to their former workspaces, where they'll have just 15 minutes to clear out their things before turning in all USAID-issued assets. Many workers saw the administration's terms for retrieving their belongings as insulting. In the notice, the employees were instructed not to bring weapons, including firearms, "spear guns," and "hand grenades." (More USAID stories.)
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