The Trump administration has initiated what appears to be the final stages of dismantling the US Agency for International Development (USAID), instructing the majority of its global staff to take leave starting Monday.
Notices were also sent to at least 1,600 US-based employees, informing them of their termination.
This action is a significant step in President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's plan to downsize the six-decade-old agency, as part of a broader effort to reduce the federal government's size.
The move follows a federal judge's decision on Friday to allow the administration to proceed with its plan to remove thousands of USAID employees from their positions both in the US and internationally.
US District Judge Carl Nichols dismissed a lawsuit filed by employees seeking to temporarily block the government's plan.
According to notices viewed by The Associated Press, "As of 11p.m. EST on Sunday, February 23, 2025, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs, will be placed on administrative leave globally."
Concurrently, the agency announced the commencement of a reduction in force process, which will eliminate 2,000 US-based positions. However, a later version of the notice posted on USAID's website revised the number of positions to be eliminated to 1,600.
The administration gave no explanation for the discrepancy. USAID and the State Department did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Within hours of that notice, individual staffers began reporting receiving the notices of their upcoming dismissal under the reduction in force.
The Trump appointee running USAID, deputy administrator Pete Marocco, has indicated he plans to keep about 600 mostly US-based staffers on the job in the meantime, in part to arrange travel for USAID staffers and families abroad.
The move escalates a monthlong push to dismantle the agency, which has included closing its headquarters in Washington and shutting down thousands of aid and development programs worldwide following a freeze on all foreign assistance. A judge later temporarily blocked the funding freeze. Trump and Musk contend that USAID's work is wasteful and furthers a liberal agenda.
Lawsuits by government workers' unions, USAID contractors and others say the administration lacks the constitutional authority to eliminate an independent agency or congressionally funded programs without lawmakers' approval.
The Trump administration efforts upend decades of US policy that aid and development work overseas serves national security by stabilizing regions and economies and building alliances.
The notices of firings and leaves come on top of hundreds of USAID contractors receiving no-name form letters of termination in the past week, according to copies that AP viewed.
The blanket nature of the notification letters to USAID contractors, excluding the names or positions of those receiving them, could make it difficult for the dismissed workers to get unemployment benefits, workers noted.
A different judge in a second lawsuit tied to USAID said this past week that the administration had kept withholding foreign aid despite his order temporarily blocking the funding freeze and must restore the funding to programs worldwide.
The separate ruling from Nichols, a Trump appointee, on Friday also cleared the way for the administration to start the clock on a planned 30-day deadline for USAID staffers and their families to return home if they want their travel paid for by the government.
The judge said he was satisfied by Trump administration assurances that workers abroad would be allowed to stay in their jobs while on leave beyond the 30 days even if they chose to remain overseas.
Foreign staffers fear that continued problems with funding flows and the gutting of most of the headquarters staff will make a safe and orderly return difficult, especially those with children in school, houses to sell and ill family members.
USAID's notice Sunday said it was "committed to keeping its overseas personnel safe" and pledged not to cut off USAID staffers abroad from agency systems and other support.
