Trump administration is firing 2,000 USAID workers and putting thousands of others on leave

Demonstrators during a protest for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. Most employees of the US Agency for International Development will be placed on administrative leave starting Friday as the beleaguered agency has become a battleground in the campaign by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk to restructure the federal government. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Sunday that it is eliminating 2,000 posts at the U.S. Agency for International Development and placing all but a fraction of others worldwide on leave.

It comes after a federal judge allowed the administration to move forward with pulling thousands of USAID staffers off the job in the United States and around the world. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols rejected pleas to keep his temporary stay on the government’s plan in a lawsuit from employees.

The notices were sent to USAID workers and viewed by The Associated Press.

“As of 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 23, 2025, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs, will be placed on administrative leave globally,” the notices say.

The move escalates a monthlong administration assault on the agency that has closed its headquarters in Washington and shut down thousands of U.S. aid and development programs worldwide following an effort to freeze foreign assistance. President Donald Trump and his chief cost-cutter, Elon Musk, contend the aid and development work is wasteful and furthers a liberal agenda.

The notices of firings and leaves come on top of hundreds of USAID contractors receiving no-name form letters of termination over the weekend, according to copies that AP viewed.

The blanket nature of the notification letters to USAID contractors, excluding the names or positions of those receiving it, could make it difficult for the dismissed workers to get unemployment benefits, workers noted.

A different judge in a second lawsuit tied to the dismantling of USAID has temporarily blocked the freeze on foreign assistance and said this past week that the administration had kept withholding the aid and must at least temporarily restore the funding to programs worldwide.