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Most USAID employees will be put back on administrative leave by the Trump administration beginning midnight on Sunday.
Some 2,000 employees will also be laid off in a “reduction in force” effort, the Office of the Administrator said in an email to employees obtained by CBS News, the BBC’s American news partner.
The move comes weeks after President Donald Trump initially attempted to eliminate thousands of USAID employees, but the firings faced a legal challenge.
A federal judge had temporarily halted the administration’s plan to gut America’s foreign aid agency, but ruled on Friday the pause would not be permanent.
The notice to employees clarifies that “designated personnel” responsible for critical functions or in leadership will be exempt. It’s not clear how many employees have been deemed critical.
Judge Carl Nichols ruled on Friday that the Trump administration could continue its plans to get rid of staffers, dismissing pleas from employees to stop the government’s plan from moving forward.
The announcement Sunday marks the latest in a string of moves from the Trump administration to reduce the federal workforce and cut costs.
That effort is being led by billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk, who over the weekend tasked millions of bureaucrats with listing their accomplishments from the week.
The pair have been critical of America’s sizable overseas spending and USAID has become the target of their frustration. Trump has argued the agency fails to align with “America First” policy priorities.
On Saturday, from the stage at a conservative convention outside Washington DC, Trump took aim at the aid agency once again: “We’ve also effectively ended the left-wing scam known as USAID. The agency’s name has been removed from its former building, and that space will now house agents from Customs and Border Patrol”.
Meanwhile Musk, previously claimed the aid agency is “a criminal organization” and that Trump has agreed to “shut it down”.
Musk did not provide evidence to support his claim.
USAID employs around 10,000 people, two-thirds of whom work overseas, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The email to staff said USAID intended to fund voluntary return travel for overseas staff.
Trump’s cutbacks to USAID – championed by Musk – have already upended the global aid system. Hundreds of programmes were frozen in countries around the world since the president announced his intentions in January.
The US is by far the biggest single provider of humanitarian aid around the world. It has bases in more than 60 countries and works in dozens of others, with much of its work carried out by its contractors.
“When you pull all of that out, you send some very dangerous messages,” former USAID chief Gayle Smith previously told the BBC. “The US is signalling that we don’t frankly care whether people live or die and that we’re not a reliable partner.”
