February 5, 2025 | 06:18 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Donald Trump administration on Tuesday announced that it was going to put on leave all directly hired employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) globally and recall thousands of personnel working overseas.
"On Friday, February 7, 2025, at 11:59 pm (EST) all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally," said an announcement on the USAID web site, which has been down since the weekend.
Some personnel "responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs" were excepted from the move, it said.
USAID's workforce totals more than 10,000, with about two-thirds of that staff serving overseas, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The agency has more than 60 country and regional missions.
For USAID staff overseas, Washington was preparing a plan in coordination with the State Department and would pay for the return travel of personnel to the United States within 30 days, the announcement said. It added that the USAID leadership was going to consider case-by-case exceptions based on personal hardship or concerns over mobility and safety.
"Thank you for your service," the announcement finished.
The shocking overhaul, which risks upending the lives of thousands of staff and their families, comes as President Donald Trump moves merge USAID, Washington's primary humanitarian agency that distributes billions of dollars worth of aid abroad, with the State Department and effectively dismantle the agency as an independent entity.
On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters he was now the acting head of USAID, calling the agency "completely unresponsive" and accusing staff there of being "unwilling to answer simple questions" about programs.
He informed Congress in a letter of the looming reorganization of the agency, saying some parts of USAID might be absorbed by the State Department and the remainder may be abolished.
But because Congress established USAID as an independent establishment within the executive branch, the President does not have the authority to abolish it without congressional authorization, according to a CRS report this week.
REUTERS | Humeyra Pamuk
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