Solar panels system funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) are seen in the Lebanese-Syrian border town of Majdal Anjar, eastern Bekaa valley, Lebanon, Nov. 9, 2022. (Bilal Hussein/AP)
The Trump administration’s purge of dozens of senior officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development encountered resistance on Thursday when the career employee who carried out the original directive rescinded it, calling the purge an “illegal” violation of “due process.”
The official was then promptly placed on administrative leave - according to emails obtained by The Washington Post - in the latest convulsion stemming from President Donald Trump’s 90-day freeze on foreign aid, which has ground to a halt humanitarian aid programs around the world and prompted U.S. contractors to furlough hundreds of employees and prepare to let go many thousands more.
“DOGE instructed me to violate the due process of our employees by issuing immediate termination notices to a group of employees without due process,” wrote Nicholas Gottlieb, the director of employee and labor relations at USAID, referring to the budget-slashing commission known as the “Department of Government Efficiency.” “I was notified moments ago that I will be placed on administrative leave, effective immediately. It has been an honor working with you all.”
The episode underscores the tumult at a U.S. agency that is the world’s largest provider of food assistance, and the role that DOGE, led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, is playing in the sweeping edicts that are attempting to downsize and overhaul swaths of the federal government.
Trump’s foreign aid directive, signed on his first day in office, and a “stop-work” order approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio last Friday have prompted widespread confusion in the aid community. Some aid contractors have had to go without pay for work they already completed, said two senior aid workers who, like some others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of punitive action.
Trump has long criticized foreign aid, complaining that it too often goes to countries that do not show respect to the United States. His spokeswoman at the State Department, Tammy Bruce, has defended the aid pause, saying the United States will no longer “blindly dole out money with no return for the American people.”
The department has issued exemptions for aid related to Israel, Egypt, food assistance and “lifesaving” care, but aid groups say the exemption process doesn’t work and they can’t get assurances that the U.S. government will continue to fund programs that appear to be eligible under the carveout.
On Thursday, Trump’s directive resulted in the shutdown of one of the world’s most trusted warning systems for detecting the outbreak of famine, FEWS Net, which received $60 million from USAID last year, said two U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The initiative, started by USAID in 1985, tracks hunger across dozens of food-insecure areas including the Gaza Strip, Sudan, Yemen, Haiti, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. That work informs USAID about where to distribute food assistance most effectively around the world.
“It is shocking that because food aid is exempt from this freeze, they have not exempted the program that makes it efficient, that helps them make decisions for where to send the food aid,” the official said.
Spokespeople for USAID and the State Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Confusion in the exemption process was exacerbated by the dismissal of senior career officials at USAID, some of whom had skills that would have been useful in processing the carveouts, said officials familiar with the matter.
More than 50 senior career USAID officials were put on administrative leave Monday, including deputy administrators and deputy assistant administrators.
The ousters, which came without warning, were followed by an explanation that the officials were trying to undermine the aid freeze, according to an agency-wide memo signed by Jason Gray, the newly installed acting administrator of USAID.
“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 Gray, who is also the chief information officer. “As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice.”
On Thursday, Gottlieb sent an email to officials put on administrative leave saying that he had “reviewed the materials that served as the purported basis for your placement in this status” and “found no evidence that you engaged in misconduct.”
He informed colleagues at 2:04 p.m. that he decided to cancel their administrative leave status under his “authority.” Two hours later, Gottlieb sent a second email informing colleagues that he had been placed on administrative leave and bidding them farewell.
“Please be kind and considerate of my staff,” he said, “who will be very short-staffed and pressed over the coming months.”
The aid freeze has come under criticism from U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, who on Monday called for “additional exemptions to be considered to ensure the continued delivery of critical development and humanitarian activities for the most vulnerable communities around the world, whose lives and livelihoods depend on this support.”
“The United States is one of the largest aid providers and it is vital that we work constructively to jointly shape a strategic path forward,” read a statement from his office.
The freeze has impacted a diverse array of programs, including support for refugee camps, HIV/AIDS prevention, democracy promotion and civil society in countries around the world. It also has resulted in a halt of programs that include even passing references to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Trump officials have also warned aid groups and U.S. officials against speaking publicly about the aid freeze, which some officials have called a “gag order.”
In an email to the 10,000 USAID employees sent last Saturday, the leadership warned that “all communications outside the Agency, including the State Department, must be approved by the Agency Front Office.”
“Failure to abide by this directive, or any of the directives sent out earlier this week and in the coming weeks, will result in disciplinary action,” wrote Ken Jackson, the assistant to the administrator for management and resources.
In comparing Trump’s approach during his first term, one USAID official said the agency had been “an afterthought and backwater, which is how we like it.”
“This time I feel we are target number one,” the official said. Jeff Stein and Missy Ryan contributed to this report.
