On Thursday, the Trump administration unveiled a plan to significantly reduce the number of staff involved in U.S. aid projects globally as part of efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, resulting in a workforce of fewer than 300 individuals from thousands.
On Thursday night, unions representing federal employees initiated legal action to prevent the shutdown, contending that President Donald Trump does not have the power to close down an agency established by congressional law.
The Associated Press was informed about the administration’s plan, presented to the remaining senior USAID officials on Thursday, by two current USAID employees and one former senior official. They spoke on condition of anonymity due to a Trump administration order barring USAID staffers from talking to anyone outside their agency.
The Associated Press was informed about the administration’s plan, presented to the remaining senior USAID officials on Thursday, by two current USAID employees and one former senior official. Due to a Trump administration order prohibiting USAID staff from speaking to anyone outside their agency, they spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Under the plan, fewer than 300 employees would remain on duty, out of the current total of 8,000 direct hires and contractors. Along with an unspecified number of 5,000 internationally hired local staffers abroad, they would manage the limited life-saving programs that the administration claims it plans to maintain for now.
It was unclear at first if the cut to 300 would be permanent or temporary, allowing more workers to return after what the Trump administration describes as a review of which aid and development programs it intends to resume.
Earlier this week, the administration granted nearly all USAID employees stationed abroad a 30-day period (beginning Friday) to return to the U.S., with their travel and relocation expenses covered by the government. According to a notice on the USAID website late Thursday, workers who opt to stay longer may need to cover their own expenses unless they received a specific hardship waiver.
During a trip to the Dominican Republic on Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the U.S. government will keep offering foreign aid.
USAID has been the primary target of an unprecedented challenge to the federal government and its many programs, spearheaded by the Trump administration and billionaire ally Elon Musk, who is at the helm of a budget-cutting Department of Government Efficiency.
Since Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20, a broad funding freeze has halted most of the agency’s global programs, and nearly all of its employees have been put on administrative leave or furlough. Musk and Trump have discussed the idea of abolishing USAID as an independent agency and transferring any remaining programs to the State Department.
Without congressional approval, Democratic lawmakers and others deem the move illegal.
In their lawsuit, which seeks to compel the reopening of USAID’s buildings, the return of its staff to work, and funding restoration, the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees made the same argument.
