The suspended employees are suspected of attempting to undermine the US president’s executive orders
The Trump administration has placed approximately 60 senior career officials at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on administrative leave, allegedly to suppress dissent regarding significant changes to US foreign aid policies, according to an internal memo.
The action follows President Donald Trump’s executive order initiating a 90-day suspension of most foreign aid to conduct a comprehensive spending review. An internal memo from USAID’s new leadership, obtained by Reuters and AP on Monday, stated that certain agency actions “appear 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,” acting USAID Administrator Jason Gray wrote in the memo.
Critics within the agency, cited by Reuters, described the atmosphere at USAID as having a “massive chilling effect” and suggested that the move aims to silence those seeking waivers for what they consider “essential” programs. According to the Financial Times, several US diplomats have requested exemptions for alleged “critical” Ukraine-related projects.
The 90-day pause in foreign aid has led to program halts and staff layoffs globally. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has exempted only emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt from the freeze. The US, as the world’s largest donor, disbursed approximately $72 billion in various forms of assistance to foreign governments and international institutions in fiscal year 2023.
Washington accounts for over 42% of all aid tracked by the United Nations. Despite Rubio’s assurances that essential life-saving aid would not be affected, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi announced inevitable expenditure cuts and operational freezes. President Trump and his supporters maintain that these measures fulfill his campaign promise to reduce bureaucracy and government waste.
