USAID to place all direct-hire staff on administrative leave starting Friday
The Trump administration is placing all direct-hire employees at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) around the world on administrative leave starting Friday, except for core leadership and "mission-critical" staff, according to an email sent to employees and a message posted on the agency's website.
The email, titled "The Path Forward," said direct-hire personnel would be placed on leave starting at 11:59 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7, "with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs."
The message was also posted on the agency's newly restored website, which was recently pulled down.
USAID, which stands for the U.S. Agency for International Development, oversees foreign aid, disaster relief and international development programs.
For USAID employees posted outside the U.S., the notice said the agency would work to "arrange and pay for return travel to the United States within 30 days."
Earlier, ABC News learned the U.S. State Department had begun working to assist in recalling all USAID staff who are on foreign assignments worldwide, according to multiple sources familiar with the effort.
The department was aiming to recall all USAID employees, including family members, to the U.S. by Saturday, sources told ABC News.
"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," the notice to employees stated. "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.
The move comes a day after Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, said he was "in the process" of "shutting down" the agency with the backing of President Donald Trump, as part of efforts to trim the size of the federal government and eliminate waste.
Sources told ABC News that the estimated number of foreign USAID staffers was between 1,500 to 2,000.
On Tuesday, new deputy administrator for USAID Pete Marocco told State Department officials that if the recall wasn't completed, the military would step in, a source familiar with the conversion told ABC News.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week appointed Marocco, a former USAID and State Department official, as USAID deputy administrator to review the agency and oversee potential changes.
A source familiar with the recall plans called Saturday an "insane deadline" that would be impossible for many to meet, and said that many USAID employees abroad have nowhere to turn for answers, because even some U.S. ambassadors have no knowledge of the Trump administration's plans.
A federal worker who spoke with ABC News said the sudden recall would force families to uproot with just days' notice, with spouses having to quit jobs, kids having to leave school, and even pets being relocated.
"To uproot them and call them back to Washington like criminals while dealing with families and logistics is cruel," a former USAID employee said.
State Department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
