The Trump administration announced on Sunday that nearly all USAID personnel worldwide will be placed on paid administrative leave, with approximately 2,000 positions in the U.S. set for elimination, according to a notice sent to agency staff and posted online.
"As of 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 23, 2025, all USAID direct-hire personnel—except for those handling mission-critical functions, core leadership, or specially designated programs—will be placed on administrative leave globally," the notice stated.
Simultaneously, the agency has begun implementing a "Reduction-in-Force" that will affect around 2,000 USAID personnel in the United States.
The White House has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Billionaire Elon Musk, whose so-called "Department of Government Efficiency" has spearheaded efforts to overhaul U.S. foreign aid, boasted that he is "feeding USAID into the wood chipper." USAID has long been a key tool of American "soft power," used to influence global affairs through aid and development initiatives.
On Friday, a federal judge ruled in favor of the Trump administration’s plan, allowing thousands of USAID workers to be placed on leave. The decision dealt a blow to government employee unions, which have been fighting the move as an attempt to dismantle the agency.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom Trump recently appointed as acting USAID administrator, has yet to comment. The unsigned notice originated from "the Office of the Administrator."
According to two former senior USAID officials who spoke with Reuters, most of the agency’s approximately 4,600 career Civil Service and Foreign Service personnel will be placed on leave.
"This administration and Secretary Rubio are being shortsighted by gutting the expertise and crisis-response capacity of the U.S.," said former USAID official Marcia Wong. "When disease outbreaks happen or people are displaced, USAID experts are the first on the ground to provide aid." Wong was even more direct on Musk’s social media platform, calling the cuts "a shortsighted, high-risk, and frankly stupid act."
A second former official, who requested anonymity, pointed out that "unsigned notices like this are not self-implementing. They require individual personnel actions or at least an approved leave slip, properly executed by an authorized official."
Shortly after taking office, Trump ordered a 90-day freeze on foreign aid, halting funding for programs aimed at fighting starvation, deadly diseases, and displacement crises worldwide.
Trump, his press secretary, and Musk have justified the cuts with misleading or fabricated claims about foreign aid spending. While the administration has approved $5.3 billion in exemptions—mostly for security and counter-narcotics programs—USAID programs have received less than $100 million in relief. This is a stark contrast to the approximately $40 billion the agency managed annually before the freeze.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a close Trump ally, has also joined the attacks on USAID, posting a video on Musk’s platform in which he accuses the agency of funding "pseudo-civil organizations" to promote democracy and human rights.
"USAID was at the heart of a vast financial and power machine—a monster designed to crush national sovereignty so the liberal-globalist empire could thrive," Orbán wrote. He praised Trump, declaring, "He drove a stake through the heart of the empire."
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