USAID Places All Staff Worldwide on Administrative Leave

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced plans to place its global staff on administrative leave and recall employees from overseas postings.

In an official statement, USAID clarified that this leave would begin just before midnight on February 7, 2025. However, exceptions will be made for personnel involved in mission-critical functions, core leadership, and specially designated programs.

This move is part of a broader initiative championed by President Donald Trump to reduce the size of the U.S. government, a plan supported by his billionaire associate, Elon Musk. The decision has sparked significant backlash from Democrats and human rights advocates.

USAID plays a crucial role in U.S. foreign policy, providing funding for health and emergency programs in over 120 countries, particularly in some of the world’s most impoverished regions.

The agency’s work is viewed as vital to the U.S.’s soft power strategy, especially in countering the influence of rivals like China, where Musk has significant business interests.

Musk, a vocal critic of USAID, has referred to the agency as “a viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America” and has pledged to dismantle it. He has also made unfounded accusations, claiming the agency conducts “rogue CIA work” and funds bioweapon research, including research related to COVID-19, which he believes “killed millions of people.”

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who holds lucrative government contracts and was a prominent financial supporter of Trump’s campaign, asserted that he personally coordinated the move with the president.

The decision to target USAID aligns with long-standing arguments from conservative and libertarian factions within the Republican Party. These groups have long contended that U.S. resources are being squandered on foreign aid, diverting attention and funding from pressing domestic issues.

In 2023, some of the agency’s largest recipients included Ukraine, Ethiopia, and Jordan, with Ukraine receiving over $16 billion in macroeconomic support amid its ongoing conflict. Other beneficiaries included Afghanistan, South Sudan, Syria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

With an annual budget exceeding $40 billion, USAID represents only a small portion of the U.S. government’s nearly $7 trillion annual expenditure. Despite this, the United States remains the world’s largest provider of official development assistance, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The move to reduce USAID’s operations marks a major shift in U.S. foreign policy, raising concerns about the potential effects on global development and humanitarian initiatives.