The administration of the U.S. president has placed nearly a hundred employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on forced leave and is exploring the possibility of reorganizing the agency, according to Reuters.
According to the agency, this past weekend, almost 30 employees from USAID's legislative affairs and public relations office were cut off from their email. As a result, the total number of senior officials at the agency who have been put on leave over the last week has reached nearly a hundred.
Among them are two senior officials overseeing USAID's security. Previously, they refused to hand over classified documents to employees of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk.
It has been noted that these purges come after over a week of chaos within USAID—the main U.S. agency responsible for financially supporting various programs worldwide. These include women's health in conflict zones, access to clean water, HIV treatment, energy security, and anti-corruption efforts.
The USAID website has been down since Saturday.
According to Reuters, the White House is examining the legal possibilities for a presidential decree to reorganize USAID in order to end the agency's independence.
Meanwhile, billionaire Elon Musk, who has criticized USAID, has referred to the agency as a "criminal organization" and remarked, "It’s time for it to die."
"Did you know that USAID, using your taxes, funded research on biological weapons, including COVID-19, which killed millions of people?" Musk wrote on his social media platform X.
Additionally, Musk referenced a source that disseminates unverified information related to conspiracy theories on social media.
Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/more-usaid-staff-ousted-trump-administration-dismantles-aid-agency-2025-02-02/
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1886129005759262964