Acting USAID Director and Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly downsizing the bureaucratic agency, retaining only 294 of the agency’s 14,000 employees worldwide. This move cuts 97% of USAID’s staff
An internal document shared by former USAID assistant administrator for global health Atul Gawande reveals the specifics of these cuts:
- Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA): Maintains 70 program staff globally, with 8 additional personnel in Washington, D.C., totaling 78.
- Bureau for Global Health (GH): Preserves 69 program staff globally, supplemented by 8 in Washington, D.C., rounding up to 77.
- Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC): Cuts deeply, retaining no program staff, only 4 each from overseas and Washington, totaling 8.
- Europe and Eurasia (E&E): Slightly less affected, keeping 2 program staff, with an additional 8 split between overseas and Washington, totaling 10.
- Asia: Follows LAC with no program staff retained, balancing the numbers with 4 overseas and 4 in Washington, totaling 8.
- Africa: Minimally staffed with 4 program personnel, supported by 4 each from overseas and Washington, totaling 12.
- Middle East: Retains a relatively higher count of 13 program staff, with 8 others split between overseas and Washington, totaling 21.
- Management: Maintains all 75 staff, signaling the prioritization of internal stability and oversight.
The substantial reduction leaves only 2% of the original workforce to continue USAID’s mission.
Rubio claims that @USAID lifesaving assistance for health and humanitarian needs will continue. But his team just communicated that the entire agency will be imminently reduced from 14,000 to 294 people. Just 12 in Africa. pic.twitter.com/8uvyjcXKeA
— Atul Gawande (@Atul_Gawande) February 6, 2025
It can be recalled on Wednesday that United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has placed its global employees on administrative leave and ordered them to return to the U.S.
This directive excludes only those deemed essential for “mission-critical functions.”
The website reads:
On Friday, February 7, 2025, at 11:59 pm (EST) all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs.
Essential personnel expected to continue working will be informed by Agency leadership by Thursday, February 6, at 3:00pm (EST).
For USAID personnel currently posted outside the United States, the Agency, in coordination with missions and the Department of State, is currently preparing a plan, in accordance with all applicable requirements and laws, under which the Agency would arrange and pay for return travel to the United States within 30 days and provide for the termination of PSC and ISC contracts that are not determined to be essential.
The Agency will consider case-by-case exceptions and return travel extensions based on personal or family hardship, mobility or safety concerns, or other reasons.
For example, the Agency will consider exceptions based on the timing of dependents’ school term, personal or familial medical needs, pregnancy, and other reasons. Further guidance on how to request an exception will be forthcoming.
Thank you for your service.
For years, USAID has operated with minimal oversight, funneling American taxpayer dollars to questionable initiatives, including:
- $1.5 million to “advance diversity, equity, and inclusion” in Serbian businesses
- $70,000 for a DEI-themed musical in Ireland
- $2.5 million for electric vehicles in Vietnam
- $47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Colombia
- $32,000 for a “transgender comic book” in Peru
- $2 million for taxpayer-funded sex changes and LGBT activism in Guatemala
- $6 million to fund tourism in Egypt
- Millions of dollars funneled to EcoHealth Alliance, a group linked to gain-of-function research in Wuhan
- USAID has been caught sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to a nonprofit organization linked to designated terrorist groups, even after an inspector general’s investigation was launched.
USAID’s unchecked spending has finally met a reckoning under President Trump. For decades, American taxpayers have unknowingly funded radical initiatives abroad, while domestic concerns like border security and veterans’ welfare were sidelined.
