Wednesday, January 29, 2025 - U.S. President, Donald Trump has suspended dozens of government officials for trying to block his executive order on freezing all foreign aid.
Dozens of career government officials at the U.S. Agency for
International Development were placed on leave on Monday, January 27. One
agency staffer told the Wall Street Journal that 57 people were
affected.
'We have identified several actions within USAID that appear
to be designed to circumvent the President's Executive orders and the mandate
from the American people,' said the newly installed acting administrator, Jason
Gray, in an email obtained by The Washington Post.
'As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on
administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice.'
Trump, on January 24th, declared the State Department
and the U.S. AID 'shall not provide foreign assistance' until a high-level
review of the programs is completed, except for Israel and Egypt and in severe
cases where emergency food assistance is needed.
The 90-day pause is to ensure all programs conform with
Trump's 'America First' policy and the administration threatened 'disciplinary
action' for any staff ignoring the orders.
Several hundred contractors based in Washington and
elsewhere also were laid off, the officials said.
It follows Trump’s executive order last week that directed a
sweeping 90-day pause on most U.S. foreign assistance disbursed through the
State Department.
As a result of the freeze, thousands of U.S.-funded
humanitarian, development, and security programs worldwide had stopped work or
were preparing to do so. Without funds to pay staff, aid organizations were
laying off hundreds of employees.
An internal USAID notice sent late Monday and obtained by
The Associated Press said new acting administrator Jason Gray had identified
“several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the
President’s Executive Orders and the mandate from the American people.”
“As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on
administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we
complete our analysis of these actions,” Gray wrote.
The senior agency officials put on leave were experienced
employees who had served in multiple administrations, including Trump’s, the
former USAID official said.
Before those officials were removed from the job Monday,
they were scrambling to help U.S.-funded aid organizations cope with the new
funding freeze and seek waivers to continue life-saving activities, from
getting clean water to war-displaced people in Sudan to continuing to monitor
for bird flu globally, the former official said.
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