United States: All the US Agency for International Development (USAID) employees worldwide, except for an extremely small number of workers, began mandatory leave on Friday after the employee associations filed federal lawsuits to stop the Trump administration from dissolving the agency together with its entire global program network.
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USAID staff obtained a hearing date on Friday afternoon for their lawsuit against the agency closure.
During the period of concealment, USAID covered its Washington headquarters entrance with duct tape to hide its organization name.
Government officials requested that the Trump administration prolong the employment of additional USAID workers who needed to facilitate the overseas evacuation of thousands of agency personnel alongside their dependents, as reported by AP News.
The administration instructed USAID staff on Thursday about the limited number of employees who can bypass global furloughs and leave procedures, which affects at least 8,000 direct hires and contractors.
Embassy diplomats seek permission to give their staff additional time following the forced school withdrawals of dependent personnel.
USAID workers serving as current staff and senior former officials of the agency learned about the forthcoming administration staffing reduction through an agency meeting on Thursday.
The employees shared their information anonymously because the Trump administration ordered USAID staff members to avoid talking with outside sources.
The current staff, including direct hires and contractors, as well as 5,000 unknown employees working in foreign locations, will operate the few life-saving programs that the administration plans to sustain temporarily.
The Trump administration failed to reveal whether these workforce cuts would remain permanent or serve as temporary measures so the same staff could potentially resume work after evaluating aid programs.
What more are the officials stating?
The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, stated that while on a trip to the Dominican Republic, the government would provide support to the staffers who get home within thirty days “if they so desired” and would listen to those with special conditions, AP News reported.
“We’re not trying to be disruptive to people’s personal lives,” he stated on Thursday. And, “We’re not being punitive here,” he added.
Furthermore, he also insisted that the moves were the only probable way to help support staffers who were working “to sneak through payments and push through payments despite the stop order” on foreign assistance.