USAID employees were allowed to enter the Washington headquarters to carry their personal belongings
Washington, DC: According to ABC News, US Agency for International Development employees were permitted to temporarily enter the agency’s Washington offices on Thursday in order to retrieve their personal things. After being laid off or placed on leave by Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), USAID employees expressed their disappointment.
The move coincides with several rumors that the administration of US President Donald Trump is cutting over 90% of USAID’s international contracts and USD 60 billion in assistance globally, according to The Hill.
As USAID staff members left the building with their personal items, they were applauded by their loved ones, relatives, and supporters outside.
order requesting that all federal assistance payments be stopped. According to The Hill, several USAID personnel have been dismissed and the majority have been put on administrative leave. The action was taken because Donald Trump wants to change government expenditures to fit the goals of his administration.
According to Amanda, a scientific and technology employee at USAID who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, “The more I talk about it, the more I want to cry.” “It’s heartbreaking,” she remarked as she waited to enter the building to retrieve her belongings, according to ABC News.
Melissa, whose last name was not disclosed, said, “It feels profoundly disrespectful to workers, to people who are dedicating themselves to making things better globally, making things better elsewhere so that they don’t come here, so the problems don’t come here.” She also spoke about how little time they had.
She has previously worked on anti-corruption initiatives and democratization campaigns in Ukraine. Additionally, she said, “I mean and we’re all people, right?” She said, “We have kids to take care of; we have parents to take care of who are aging and we’re all struggling with that as well.”
Mother of a 4-year-old child and a 9-month-old, Caitlin Harwood, said that she is “worried” about her pay for the next month and is uncertain about her future.
“I think there’s a way to go about that,” Harwood added. If they had announced that there would be a program review, I doubt that anybody would have been as afraid as they are today.
She said, “So, this is not efficiency, and it’s actually costing the American people billions in dollars in wasted food and wasted medicine.”
Before being let go by USAID, Ben Thompson was employed in communications. He claimed that he had been subject to a “communications freeze” since the beginning of the Trump administration.
According to Thompson, “Powerful, evil men are targeting a lot of good people who have dedicated their lives to something bigger than themselves, which is something that somebody like Elon Musk can’t relate to.”
“Clearly, this isn’t about government waste, fraud, and abuse,” he said. He’s destroying our institutions for amusement rather than using a fine-toothed comb.
The name of USAID was covered in black tape on the signage outside the Ronald Reagan Building as supporters arrived. Removing the tape, Kate Parsons, a USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance employee who was let go last week, stated that she had come to help her coworkers.
“I don’t know who put that tape up, but I know that USAID is still here,” Parsons said in an interview with ABC News. We remain here.
“USAID is a government agency, and only Congress has the authority to shut it down,” she added. The present administration is working to undermine it. They haven’t dismissed us all yet, but they’re attempting to do it so swiftly and carelessly that nobody notices or can stop it.” “This fight is not done yet,” she remarked.
