Humanitarian aidance experts have cautioned agency’s demise will harm vulnerable people and frailen US gentle power.
The administration of United States Pdwellnt Donald Trump is moving to fire or place on depart proximately all engageees of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
All USAID engageees, with the exception of “structureated personnel reliable for mission-critical functions, core guideership and/or specipartner structureated programs”, will be placed on “administrative depart globpartner” from 11:59pm EST on Sunday (04:59 GMT Monday), the help agency shelp in a see on its website.
The process of laying off about 1,600 US-based personnel will get place concurrently, according to the see.
“Individuals that are impacted will get particular notifications on February 23, 2025, with further teachions and alertation about their advantages and rights,” the see shelp.
“Designated essential personnel who are anticipateed to progress laboring will be alerted by Agency guideership February 23, 2025, by 5 pm EST [22:00 GMT].”
An earlier see sent to engageees had shelp about 2,000 US-based jobs would be deleted.
No reason was provided for the discrepancy.
The transfer comes after a US assess on Friday cleared the way for the Trump administration to push ahead with its structures to call back thousands of USAID staffers from overseas wilean 30 days.
“For overseas personnel, USAID intends a voluntary Agency-funded return travel program and other advantages,” USAID’s website shelp in its see.
“USAID is pledgeted to upgrasping its overseas personnel protected. Until they return home, personnel will grasp access to Agency systems and to discreet and other resources. In the coming week, we will provide details on how to get back personal items from the establisher USAID laborspaces and return administerment publishd devices.”
Led by tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, the Trump administration has transferd to effectively dismantle the main agency for disbursing US humanitarian aidance aexpansive.
Musk – who has called USAID a “criminal organization” and a “viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who disappreciate America” – and other Trump allies have claimed the agency is rife with misengage and deception, and trails a liberal ideoreasonable agenda that is outside the scope of its mission.
Former USAID officials and humanitarian laborers have decried Trump’s transfer, cautioning that the demise of the help agency will harm millions of vulnerable people worldexpansive and frailen US gentle power.
“Eliminating US exceptional response capacity of crisis experts who help grasp disrelieve outshatters, stabilise displaced populations – a illogicalinutivesighted, high hazard and frankly, illogical act,” Marcia Wong, a establisher deputy aidant administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, shelp on X.
USAID, set uped in 1961 by establisher US Pdwellnt John F Kennedy, is the world’s hugegest individual donor of humanitarian help, disbursing more than half of Washington’s $72bn foreign help budget in 2023.
