Nearly all staff for the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, will be placed on leave Friday night, the agency announced on its website Tuesday night. Earlier in the day, all overseas missions for USAID had been ordered to shut down, and all staff recalled by Friday, multiple sources confirmed to CBS News.
The statement notes that all "direct-hire personnel" will be placed on leave with exceptions for those on "mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs." Those considered exceptions will be notified by USAID leadership by 3 p.m. ET Thursday, and further guidance on how to request an exception will be forthcoming, the email said.
The statement notes the agency is developing a plan with the State Department to arrange and pay for return travel within 30 days for USAID personnel posted outside the U.S. The email states PSC (personal service contractor) contracts and ISC (independent service contractor) contracts "that are determined to be inessential will be terminated."
It also says they will consider "case-by-case" exceptions and return travel extensions based on "personal or family hardship, mobility, or safety concerns."
On Tuesday night, multiple USAID staffers based in the agency's Capital headquarters informed CBS News that they had received a separate email notifying them that they had been placed on paid administrative leave.
Sources told CBS News that it was believed the letters had gone out to a vast majority of the headquarters' employees. A copy of the memo provided to CBS News notes that employees must remain "available" by telephone and email during business hours, but are prohibited from entering USAID buildings.
Meanwhile, the newly appointed deputy administrator for the agency, Pete Marocco, met with State Department leadership on Tuesday and instructed them to get every USAID employee out of their respective countries worldwide by Friday, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Marocco said that if the State Department did not, the staff would be evacuated by the U.S. military, the sources said.
Furthermore, all D.C.-area USAID buildings in the capital's northern region remain closed this week, according to an email shared with CBS News by multiple USAID staffers and contractors. The closures for USAID buildings in Washington, D.C., have been expanded to include facilities in both Springfield, Virginia and Leesburg, Virginia.
The Trump administration has targeted USAID as the president and his allies — including billionaire Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE — seek to cut the size of the federal government.
The future of the agency — which was established in 1961 to combat poverty, strengthen democracy and protect human rights and global health — is now uncertain.
Musk has said the agency should be shut down, arguing that it's "beyond repair."
When asked Tuesday whether he would wind down USAID, Trump told reporters, "It sounds like it." The president also praised Musk for scrutinizing the agency.
More at:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/usaid-missions-overseas-ordered-shutdown-by-friday/
