The US State Department on Friday moved to effectively halt operations at the embattled U.S. Agency for International Development, with a memo sent to global personnel that bore the subject line "USAID's Final Mission."
The agency notified Congress of its plan to discontinue any USAID functions that do not align with Trump administration priorities and told USAID staff that it would eliminate all positions not required by law.
The vast majority of USAID employees will lose their jobs on either July 1 or Sept. 2, according to a memorandum to staff obtained by CBS News. The notice was sent to overseas employees and said in the first line, "because your position is being abolished, you will be separated from the Foreign Service."
The memo was signed by Jeremy Lewin, a former staffer of the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, tasked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio with serving as chief operating officer and deputy administrator of USAID.
DOGE is the brainchild of Elon Musk, an ally of President Trump who has sought to eliminate tens of thousands of government jobs. Musk, the richest person in the world, targeted USAID soon after Mr. Trump's inauguration, saying the agency — which aims to support health, socioeconomic and other services for the world's poorest — should be shut down.
Trump, Musk and others in the administration have claimed shuttering USAID would help eliminate fraud.
Rubio said in a statement Friday that "unfortunately, USAID strayed from its original mission long ago," adding that the State Department would be "continuing essential lifesaving programs and making strategic investments that strengthen our partners and our own country."
The Lewin memo described USAID's reduction in force as a "multi-step process" in which over the course of three months the State Department would "build their capacities to assume the responsible administration of USAID's remaining life-saving and strategic aid programming."
The memo gave "a substantial portion of the Agency" the option of staying on active duty until their separation dates, but also offered employees the choice to go on "voluntary administrative leave" in order to "step away and focus on next steps."
Source: CSB
Md-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
