A USAID staff member stands as Gaza aid on a truck is about to enter a U.S ship at the port of Larnaca, Cyprus, on June 26, 2024. (Credit: Petros Karadjias/AP)
The Trump administration has ordered dozens of top career employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development to go on administrative leave, according to six people told of the decision.
The order — sent via email to members of the senior executive and senior Foreign Service — was issued close to the end of the business day Monday and was effective immediately, according to two current USAID officials and three former USAID officials told of the communication. It comes as USAID and the State Department have been ordered to impose halts on a vast number of humanitarian and related programs around the world.
The decision appears to affect nearly every career staffer who holds a top leadership role at the agency, at least in Washington — around 60 officials, the current and former officials said. (Read more: Politico, 1/27/2025) (Archive)
(Timeline editor’s note: Be sure and check our USAID tag timeline for a good look at some of the corruption connected to this program.)