Currently, only 900 employees remain associated with USAID, which once employed 10,000 members. The Trump administration is looking to merge the agency with the US State Department after formally ending it.
US President Donald Trump is likely to formally end the US Agency for International Development (USAID), as the remaining employees may get notified about their termination, with the agency slated to be merged with the State Department, The Hill reports. The latest move will imply that the remaining USAID functions will pass over to the State Department effective July 1. By September 2, USAID’s operations will have been substantially transferred to State or otherwise wound down, a notice stated.
Notably, only 900 employees remain at an agency that once employed 10,000, according to a memo to Congress obtained by CNN. However, it is not clear if the specific USAID programmes would survive the transfer.
USAID employees to be terminated either on July 1 or September 2
The USAID’s remaining members are likely to be terminated either on July 1 or September 2, with those in the later group responsible for “winding down” the agency.
Jeremy Lewin, a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer who joined USAID last week, said the State Department “will seek to retire USAID’s independent operation, consistent with applicable law,” as per The Hill.
“As Secretary Rubio has said, following congressional consultations, the State Department intends to assume responsibility for many of USAID’s functions and its ongoing programming,” Lewin wrote.
“The remaining USAID personnel will then supervise the responsible decommissioning of USAID assets and the wind-down of the agency’s independent operations,” Lewin added.
In a separate move on late Thursday, Trump signed an executive order directing a number of agencies to suspend union bargaining rights. Included on the list was USAID, as the administration classified it as a national security agency.
Trump signed executive order on USAID on January 20
Trump on January 20 issued an executive order directing a freeze of foreign assistance funding and a review of all of the tens of billions of dollars of US aid and development work abroad. He said that much of foreign assistance was wasteful and advanced a liberal agenda.
(With agency inputs)
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