By Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department has ordered the shutdown of overseas missions of U.S. Agency for International Development and is working to recall thousands of staff worldwide, two sources familiar with the discussions said on Tuesday.
The move comes as the administration of President Donald Trump is moving to merge USAID, Washington’s primary humanitarian agency that distributes billions of dollars worth of aid abroad, with the State Department and effectively dismantle the agency as an independent entity.
State Department officials on Tuesday were told by Peter Marocco, a Trump appointee who was on Monday tasked with overseeing the agency’s operations, that all USAID staff and their families should be recalled by Friday, one of the sources said.
A second person said the deadline could be delayed.
The move was first reported by ABC News.
Separately, USAID staff in many bureaus at the agency’s headquarters in Washington were put on administrative leave on Tuesday evening, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. The memo was also signed by Marocco.
Two USAID workers who have been placed on administrative leave told Reuters that each agency bureau has been directed to leave a “skeleton crew” to help identify programs to be shuttered.
Hundreds of USAID programs covering billions of dollars worth of lifesaving aid across the globe came to a grinding halt after Trump on Jan. 20 ordered a freeze of most U.S. foreign aid, saying he wanted to ensure it is aligned with his “America First” policy.
Under stop-work orders from the State Department, dozens of USAID staff were put on leave last week while hundreds of internal contractors were laid off. Waivers have been issued for some emergency life-saving assistance.
Trump has tasked billionaire Elon Musk, who has falsely accused USAID of being a “criminal” organization, with scaling down the agency.
USAID’s workforce totals more than 10,000, with about two-thirds of that staff serving overseas, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The agency has more than 60 country and regional missions.
On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters he was now the acting head of USAID, calling the agency “completely unresponsive” and accusing staff there of being “unwilling to answer simple questions” about programs.
He informed Congress in a letter on Monday of the looming reorganization of the agency, saying some parts of USAID might be absorbed by the State Department and the remainder may be abolished.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom and Jonathan Landay in Washington and Simon Lewis in Guatemala City; Editing by Sonali Paul)
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