US President Donald Trump is planning to keep a staff of less than 300 at the US Agency for International Development. According to a Reuters report, Trump administration has allowed a staff of only 294 to keep their jobs, out of the agency’s worldwide total of over 10,000 employees. The agency is on the list of US government’s reorganisation programme which is being led by Trump’s ally, Elon Musk.
The US Department of State has not commented on the matter yet but meanwhile, J Brian Atwood, who was the USAID head for over six years, called the plan “outrageous.” He said that a lot of people will not survive as this move of mass termination will kill an agency which has actually helped save millions from around the world.
After Trump and Musk had earlier falsely accused the USAID staff of being criminals, many contractors were laid off and employees were put on leave, which has left many important life-saving programmes in limbo.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio had on Thursday said that the Trump administration is identifying which programs would still be allowed to continue despite the orders of stopping work. Currently, USAID partners are facing financial difficulties due to the halt in work, the Reuters report said.
Why is Trump administration downsizing the USAID staff?
The Trump administration aims to combine USAID with the US State Department, which is led by Marco Rubio. However, it is unclear as of now if this merger can happen without Congress voting on it, since USAID was created by laws that are still in effect.
USAID had more than 10,000 employees worldwide, with two-thirds of them working outside the US, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). In fiscal year 2023, it managed over $40 billion, the most recent year with complete data.