Top USAID career staff placed on immediate leave
“This is like taking out all the generals,” said a former Trump administration official informed of the decision.
A USAID staff member stands as Gaza aid on a truck is about to enter a U.S ship at the port of Larnaca, Cyprus, on June 26, 2024. | Petros Karadjias/AP
By Nahal Toosi, Daniel Lippman and Robbie Gramer
01/27/2025
The Trump administration has ordered dozens of top career employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development to go on administrative leave, according to six people told of the decision.
The order — sent via email to members of the senior executive and senior Foreign Service — was issued close to the end of the business day Monday and was effective immediately, according to two current USAID officials and three former USAID officials told of the communication. It comes as USAID and the State Department have been ordered to impose halts on a vast number of humanitarian and related programs around the world.
The decision appears to affect nearly every career staffer who holds a top leadership role at the agency, at least in Washington — around 60 officials, the current and former officials said.
The cuts have left many offices within the agency entirely devoid of senior non-political leadership. The entire cadre of leaders who run USAID’s bureau for global health, for example, was put on leave, according to two of the officials.
“This is a huge morale hit,” said a former senior Trump administration official who was also told of the move. “This is the leadership of the agency. This is like taking out all the generals. I don’t know what they hope to accomplish by it.”
A spokesperson for USAID did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The administrative leave means the people affected will continue to get paid. It was not immediately clear how long it would last. But it comes as Trump officials seek to stamp out any internal dissent from within federal agencies.
Acting USAID Administrator Jason Gray sent an email to all staff later Monday saying the decision was related to apparent efforts of some staffers to obstruct recent directives from President Donald Trump.
“We have identified several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the president’s executive orders and the mandate from the American people,” he wrote in the email, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO. “As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we complete our analysis of these actions.”Gray did not say what the alleged actions were or the number or names of employees in question.
The Trump administration has already sought an array of means to trim the federal workforce, including pulling job offers from recent hires and cutting special recruitment programs. Trump on Friday fired around 17 inspectors general, though many of the people fired and Democratic lawmakers contend his way of ousting the government watchdogs violated the law.
USAID has faced intense scrutiny by the new administration, which has many officials who are skeptical of foreign assistance. A recent directive ordered agency officials not to communicate with outside institutions — not even the State Department — without top-level approval.