The US Agency for International Development (USAID) is planning to drastically reduce its workforce, keeping only 294 out of over 10,000 employees. This move aims to merge USAID with the State Department, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio who Trump has appointed as acting USAID administrator. The decision has sparked criticism, with former USAID head J. Brian Atwood warning of the devastating impact on life-saving programs globally.
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“That’s outrageous,” said J. Brian Atwood, who served as head of USAID for more than six years, adding the mass termination of personnel would effectively kill an agency that has helped keep tens of millions of people around the world from dying. The administration announced on Tuesday it was going to put on leave all directly hired USAID employees globally, and recall thousands of personnel working overseas.
The administration’s goal is to merge USAID with the State Department led by Rubio, who Trump has made acting USAID administrator. However, it is not clear that he can merge the agencies unless Congress votes to do so, since USAID was created and is funded by laws that remain in place.
USAID STATE DEPARTMENT STAFF LAYOFFS INTERNATIONAL AID POLITICAL OVERHAUL
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