President Donald Trump’s administration announced a decision to place the majority of USAID personnel on paid administrative leave, with plans to cut about 2,000 positions in the U.S., according to a notice reviewed by Reuters.
The Trump administration has placed nearly all United States Agency for International Development (USAID) direct hire personnel on paid administrative leave, with the exception of those essential for critical functions. A "Reduction-in-Force" will eliminate around 2,000 USAID positions in the U.S., the notice said.
This move comes amid an ongoing effort led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to scale back USAID operations, which are a key tool for American foreign assistance and soft power abroad.
A federal judge cleared the way on Friday for the administration to place thousands of USAID workers on leave, despite legal challenges from government employee unions.
Two former senior USAID officials estimate that a majority of the agency’s 4,600 personnel, including career U.S. Civil Service and Foreign Service staff, will be affected.
“This administration is shortsighted in cutting into the expertise and unique crisis response capacity of the U.S.,” said former USAID official Marcia Wong. “When disease outbreaks occur or populations are displaced, USAID experts are often the first deployed to help stabilize and provide aid.”
USAID has received less than $100 million in exemptions from Trump’s 90-day foreign aid freeze, which halted funding for essential programs that once totaled roughly $40 billion annually.
The administration approved exemptions totaling $5.3 billion, primarily for security and counter-narcotics programs, with limited humanitarian relief included.
The White House has yet to respond to requests for further comment on these actions.
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Meta and Russian search engine Yandex have been secretly tracking what Android users do on their web browsers—even when users are in private or incognito mode—according to experts from Radboud University and IMDEA Networks.
A major Japanese battery maker has stopped construction on a $1.6 billion plant in South Carolina, citing “policy and market uncertainty” tied to electric vehicles and global trade.
Germany’s new government has launched a major program aimed at boosting investment and helping Europe’s largest economy recover after two years of decline.
]The third annual AI Film Festival opened Thursday night in New York, offering a glimpse into what artificial intelligence can now do on the big screen.
David Beckham is set to receive a knighthood in the upcoming king’s birthday honours list, recognising his outstanding contributions to football and his charitable work.
Meta and Russian search engine Yandex have been secretly tracking what Android users do on their web browsers—even when users are in private or incognito mode—according to experts from Radboud University and IMDEA Networks.
A major Japanese battery maker has stopped construction on a $1.6 billion plant in South Carolina, citing “policy and market uncertainty” tied to electric vehicles and global trade.
Germany’s new government has launched a major program aimed at boosting investment and helping Europe’s largest economy recover after two years of decline.
]The third annual AI Film Festival opened Thursday night in New York, offering a glimpse into what artificial intelligence can now do on the big screen.
As peace talks progress, voices from Yerevan, Tbilisi, and Baku reveal hopes, concerns, and expectations for a future shaped by trade, trust, and generational change in the South Caucasus.
A bridge collapse in the Vygonichsky district of Russia’s Bryansk region, near the Ukrainian border, caused a train derailment and a traffic accident early Sunday, killing at least seven people and leaving 30 injured, according to emergency services.
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has confirmed it carried out a third targeted attack against the Crimean Bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge, early Tuesday morning, marking a new escalation in the ongoing conflict with Russia.
A strong 6.3 magnitude earthquake shook Japan’s Hokkaido prefecture early Monday, causing no reported injuries or damage, and no tsunami warning was issued, officials confirmed.
Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine ended abruptly in Istanbul on Monday, lasting just over an hour amid mounting tensions following a major Ukrainian drone strike on Russian strategic bombers and renewed pressure from the U.S. for a breakthrough.
David Beckham is set to receive a knighthood in the upcoming king’s birthday honours list, recognising his outstanding contributions to football and his charitable work.
]The third annual AI Film Festival opened Thursday night in New York, offering a glimpse into what artificial intelligence can now do on the big screen.
A local dive team has solved a nearly 140-year-old maritime mystery by identifying the wreck of the SS Nantes off the coast of Devon.
India’s central bank made a bigger-than-expected interest rate cut, lowering the repo rate by half a percent to 5.5%, the lowest level in three years.
Twenty-two crew members were safely rescued after a cargo ship carrying 3,000 vehicles, including 800 electric cars, caught fire in the North Pacific near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.
David Beckham is set to receive a knighthood in the upcoming king’s birthday honours list, recognising his outstanding contributions to football and his charitable work.
Meta and Russian search engine Yandex have been secretly tracking what Android users do on their web browsers—even when users are in private or incognito mode—according to experts from Radboud University and IMDEA Networks.
A major Japanese battery maker has stopped construction on a $1.6 billion plant in South Carolina, citing “policy and market uncertainty” tied to electric vehicles and global trade.
Germany’s new government has launched a major program aimed at boosting investment and helping Europe’s largest economy recover after two years of decline.
]The third annual AI Film Festival opened Thursday night in New York, offering a glimpse into what artificial intelligence can now do on the big screen.
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