Washington: The US government’s major humanitarian agency, USAID, announced on Tuesday that it is placing its staff in the United States and globally on administrative leave. This decision involves recalling employees from overseas positions.
According to Lao News Agency, USAID stated on its website that the administrative leave will commence shortly before midnight on February 7. This directive affects “all USAID direct hire personnel… with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership, and specially designated programs.” The agency expressed gratitude in the statement, saying, “Thank you for your service.”
This move aligns with President Trump’s, along with his ally Elon Musk’s, efforts to significantly reduce the size of the US government. This initiative has stirred controversy in Washington and sparked protests from Democrats and various human rights groups. USAID, which supports health and emergency initiatives in approximately 120 countries, including some of the poorest regions globally, is viewed as a significant tool of soft power for the US in its strategic rivalry with countries like China, where Musk maintains substantial business interests.
Musk, a vocal critic of USAID, described the agency as “a viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America” and has vowed to shut it down. He has made several unverified claims, including that USAID engages in “rogue CIA work” and has “funded bioweapon research, including Covid-19, that killed millions of people.”
The SpaceX and Tesla CEO, who holds significant contracts with the US government and was the largest financial supporter of Trump’s campaign, mentioned that he personally discussed and approved this unprecedented action with the president. This attack on USAID is part of a broader narrative among conservative and libertarian factions within the Republican Party, who argue that the US squanders resources on foreign aid while neglecting domestic needs.
USAID identifies its mission as striving “to end extreme poverty and promote resilient, democratic societies while advancing our security and prosperity.” Despite its budget exceeding $40 billion, it represents only a minor fraction of the US government’s total annual expenditure of nearly $7 trillion.