Trump Fires 2000 USAID Workers, Puts Thousands Others On Leave
The Trump administration has eliminated 2,000 positions and placed almost all other USAID staffers on leave globally.
The Donald Trump administration on Sunday said that it is eliminating 2,000 positions at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and placing all but a fraction of other staffers worldwide on leave.
This development comes after a federal judge on Friday allowed the administration to move forward with pulling thousands of USAID staffers off the job in the US and around the world. US District Judge Carl Nichols rejected pleas that came in a lawsuit from employees to keep temporarily blocking the government’s plan.
The notice, which were sent to USAID workers and viewed by The Associated Press, reads “As of 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday , 2025, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs, will be placed on administrative leave globally,” AP reported.
According to The New York Times, the employees were fired using a mechanism called 'reduction in force.' The mass firings are part of a series of layoffs of agency employees by the Trump administration during a broad effort to halt almost all US foreign aid using a blanket freeze.
Two former senior USAID officials told Reuters that a majority of some 4,600 USAID personnel, career US Civil Service and Foreign Service staffers, would be placed on administrative leave.
"This administration and Secretary (of State Marco) Rubio are shortsighted in cutting into the expertise and unique crisis response capacity of the US," said Marcia Wong, one of the former officials. "When disease outbreaks occur, populations displaced, these USAID experts are on the ground and first deployed to help stabilize and provide aid?" The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, was appointed acting USAID administrator by Donald Trump earlier this month.
Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly taking office, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe.
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