Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is finalising the closure of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) by ordering the firing of thousands of local workers as well as US diplomats and government employees assigned to the agency overseas, two former senior USAID officials and a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.
The US Congress was notified on March 29 that almost all USAID employees would be laid off by September, all of its overseas offices would close and some functions would be transferred to the State Department. Musk’s latest DOGE move will effectively wipe out what’s left of the agency’s workforce, the USAID officials explained.
“It’s definitely a permanent closure,” one former senior USAID official said.
The agency’s human resources department told regional offices in a conference call that layoff notices will be sent to all of the more than 10,000 local foreign nationals starting in August. Notices will also be sent to US diplomats and government employees assigned overseas, the USAID officials said. More than 600 US diplomats are assigned to USAID overseas.
USAID is run by “radical left-wing lunatics,” Trump says
Donald Trump and Musk in February began the process of shutting down USAID and merging its divisions with the State Department to ensure they are in line with the president’s “America First” (MAGA) policy.
Trump claimed the agency was rife with fraud and run by “radical left-wing lunatics,” while Musk called the organisation “criminal.” Thousands of USAID employees were placed on administrative leave. On March 29, they received layoff notices, at the same time hundreds of contractors were fired and more than five thousand of the agency’s programmes were terminated.
According to the Congressional Research Service, USAID has missions in more than 60 countries, with most of its funds going to humanitarian aid and health programmes. Top recipients have included Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jordan, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the battle-torn Gaza Strip.
