The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has effectively been gutted, with its global employees placed on administrative leave and ordered to return to the U.S.
After going offline over the weekend as part of Trump’s goal to streamline federal operations and slash government spending, the official website of USAID is back online—but not for the reasons anyone expected.
The agency’s website now serves as a digital pink slip for its global workforce.
All USAID direct hire personnel are to be placed on administrative leave globally, with mandates for many to return to the U.S. This directive excludes only those deemed essential for “mission-critical functions.”
The website reads:
On Friday, February 7, 2025, at 11:59 pm (EST) all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs.
Essential personnel expected to continue working will be informed by Agency leadership by Thursday, February 6, at 3:00pm (EST).
For USAID personnel currently posted outside the United States, the Agency, in coordination with missions and the Department of State, is currently preparing a plan, in accordance with all applicable requirements and laws, under which the Agency would arrange and pay for return travel to the United States within 30 days and provide for the termination of PSC and ISC contracts that are not determined to be essential.
The Agency will consider case-by-case exceptions and return travel extensions based on personal or family hardship, mobility or safety concerns, or other reasons.
For example, the Agency will consider exceptions based on the timing of dependents’ school term, personal or familial medical needs, pregnancy, and other reasons. Further guidance on how to request an exception will be forthcoming.
Thank you for your service.
The good news is your website is back up. The bad news is you’re all fired. pic.twitter.com/Pc8EtPt4Jn
— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) February 5, 2025
According to Reuters, USAID employed over 10,000 individuals globally, with approximately two-thirds stationed overseas in more than 60 country and regional missions.
This news follows the decision to place nearly all USAID staff based in Washington on leave.
Sources to Politico say that as of Tuesday, around 1,400 USAID employees will be officially notified of their leave status, adding to the 600 staffers who were already sidelined starting Sunday night.
This sweeping action—approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio—represents a near-total purge of Washington-based USAID staff, many of whom are career bureaucrats embedded in the agency for decades.
Additionally, a senior USAID official confirmed that over 1,400 staffers had their system access revoked Tuesday morning, indicating that even more employees than previously announced may be removed.
On top of this, hundreds of USAID contractors have been laid off or furloughed in recent weeks due to an ongoing freeze on foreign aid imposed by President Trump and his administration.
For years, USAID has operated with minimal oversight, funneling American taxpayer dollars to questionable initiatives, including:
- $1.5 million to “advance diversity, equity, and inclusion” in Serbian businesses
- $70,000 for a DEI-themed musical in Ireland
- $2.5 million for electric vehicles in Vietnam
- $47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Colombia
- $32,000 for a “transgender comic book” in Peru
- $2 million for taxpayer-funded sex changes and LGBT activism in Guatemala
- $6 million to fund tourism in Egypt
- Millions of dollars funneled to EcoHealth Alliance, a group linked to gain-of-function research in Wuhan
- USAID has been caught sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to a nonprofit organization linked to designated terrorist groups, even after an inspector general’s investigation was launched.
USAID’s unchecked spending has finally met a reckoning under President Trump. For decades, American taxpayers have unknowingly funded radical initiatives abroad, while domestic concerns like border security and veterans’ welfare were sidelined.
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