New reports said the Trump administration is gutting the U.S. Agency for International Development.
A report from Reuters based on sources it did not name said that when the cutting is done, 294 people will work for an agency that has had about 10,000 employees. If accurate, that would be a 97 percent reduction.
According to The New York Times, a screenshot of an email from Joel Borkert, the acting USAID chief of staff, said the current plans is to have 12 people working on projects in Africa, eight covering Latin America and the Caribbean, 21 focused on Middle East projects, and eight devoted to Asia.
The Times reported, the plan is to retain 78 people in the bureau of humanitarian affairs and 77 in the bureau of global health.
“That’s outrageous,” J. Brian Atwood, a former USAID leader, told Reuters.
The State Department did not comment on the Times or Reuters reports.
USAID has been scrutinized by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration said directly hired USAID workers will be put on leave and all foreign personnel were being recalled.
Do you support what is essentially the complete shuttering of USAID?
The Times report, which also quoted sources it did not name, said that USAID officials are pushing back against the proposed staffing levels.
In addition to the staff cuts, the Times report said about 800 awards and contracts USAID administers are being canceled.
Rubio told Fox News this week that USAID has gone rogue in recent years, accusing it of “rank insubordination” and saying, “We had no choice but to bring this thing under control.”
Rubio said USAID staffers “don’t consider that they work for the U.S. They just think they’re a global entity and that their master is the globe and not the United States, and that’s not what the statute says, and that’s not sustainable.”
Rubio indicated a leaner, more focused USAID is his goal.
“There are things that we do through USAID that we should continue to do, that make sense, and we’ll have to decide, is that better through the State Department or is that better through something, you know, a reformed USAID? That’s the process we’re working through,” he said.
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa said USAID has been trying to cover up its spending, according to Fox News.
“USAID’s spending shows a blatant disregard for the wishes of American taxpayers, and it is time to disrupt the system,” Ernst said.
“The agency has been wasting millions of tax dollars on things like tourism in Lebanon, Sesame Street in Iraq, sending Ukrainians to Paris Fashion Week, and so much more.”
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