USAID places staff on leave, recalls personnel overseas

As part of the Republican party’s plan to drastically reduce the government, the administration of US President Donald Trump has mandated that nearly all of the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) staff members take vacations.
In addition to “designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership, and specially designated programs,” according to USAID, all direct hire personnel will be given a Friday leave period.
Within 30 days, USAID employees who were posted abroad will be removed from their positions, according to a statement released on the agency’s website.
The aid agency said it would consider case-by-case exceptions and 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”, the statement said.
“Thank you for your service”.
USAID employs more than 10, 000 people, about two-thirds of whom are stationed overseas, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The Trump administration may axe the agency and relegate its responsibilities to the US Department of State as a result of USAID’s announcement.
Asked by a reporter on Tuesday if he was preparing to “wind down” the agency, Trump said, “I think so”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed his appointment as USAID’s acting administrator on Monday.
The cost-cutting effort spearheaded by tech billionaire Elon Musk and his alleged Department of Government Efficiency has turned into a prime target for USAID, which distributed more than half of Washington’s $ 72 billion foreign aid budget in 2023.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has called USAID a “criminal organisation”, without substantiation, and claimed the agency is a “viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America”.
Source: Aljazeera
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