Trump administration puts about 60 USAid officials on leave after aid freeze
Trump administration puts about 60 USAid officials on leave after aid freeze
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Memo said some actions in agency ‘appeared to be designed to circumvent’ Trump’s orders and ‘America First’ policy. The Trump administration has put on leave about 60 senior career officials at the US Agency for International Development (USAid) workers, sources familiar with the matter said, after Washington put a sweeping freeze on US aid worldwide.
The administration on Saturday urged the USAid staff to join the effort to transform how Washington allocates aid around the world in line with Trump’s “America First” policy. It also threatened “disciplinary action” for any staff ignoring the administration’s orders.
An internal memo sent to USAid employees on Monday evening said the new leadership identified several actions in the agency that “appeared to be designed to circumvent the President’s Executive Orders and the mandate from the American people”. “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,” said acting administrator Jason Gray, in the memo reviewed by Reuters.
The memo did not spell out how many people were affected by the decision, but five sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that it was about 57 to 60 people. Those being put on leave comprised career staff in the leadership positions of almost all USAid bureaus based in Washington, with roles ranging from energy security to water security, children’s education overseas and digital technology, two of the sources said.
