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USAid headquarters reportedly closed and workers told to stay home

The USAid building in Washington DC on Saturday. Photograph: Annabelle Gordon/Reuters

The USAid building in Washington DC on Saturday. Photograph: Annabelle Gordon/Reuters

The Washington DC headquarters of the United States Agency for International Development (USAid) was reportedly closed on Monday, and workers were told to remain at home as Donald Trump’s second presidential administration took further steps towards its likely closure.

Agency staff received late-night emails on Sunday telling them not to come to work in the morning, according to Devex, a media platform for the global development community, which first reported the move.

It came less than 24 hours after two top security officials at USAid, the world’s largest single donor of foreign aid, were suspended after they tried to stop representatives of Elon Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) from gaining access to restricted parts of the building.

In a related development on Monday morning, Musk, tasked by Trump with shrinking the federal government, posted to X that the president agreed with his proposal to close down the agency, which manages almost $43bn in food, humanitarian and other aid to about 130 countries.

Musk, the billionaire who has repeatedly called USAid a “criminal organization” that is “beyond repair”, said he had discussed with Trump in detail his plan for closing it – and that the president had agreed.

“I actually checked with him a few times [and] said, ‘Are you sure?’ And so we’re shutting it down,” Musk said, reported by the Washington Post.

USAid is the world’s largest single donor. In fiscal year 2023, the US disbursed $72bn of assistance worldwide on everything from women’s health in conflict zones to access to clean water, HIV/Aids treatments, energy security and anti-corruption work. It provided 42% of all humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations in 2024.

Trump has ordered a global freeze on most US foreign aid as part of his “America first” policy that is already sending shock waves around the world. Field hospitals in Thai refugee camps, landmine clearance in war zones, and drugs to treat millions suffering from diseases such as HIV are among the programs at risk of elimination.

Democrats and other critics have condemned the targeting of USAid by Musk and the Trump administration. That has been part of a wider, determined push by Trump to wrest control of and remake large chunks of the federal apparatus during his second presidency.

Workers for Doge, an unofficial government department with no congressionally approved mandate, have also gained access to the US treasury’s highly sensitive database and federal payments system, it was reported on Sunday.

According to Wired magazine, the Doge team is being led by a group of six “young and inexperienced” engineers aged 19 to 24, one of whom is still in college. The decision by the new treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, to allow Doge “full access” to the personal data of millions of Americans as well as details of public contractors who compete directly with Musk’s own businesses has raised conflict of interest concerns.

“No one elected Elon Musk. As Donald Trump allows Musk to access people’s personal information and shut down government funding, Republicans in Washington will also own the consequences,” the Democratic Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren wrote on X.

“We must do everything in our power to push back and protect people from harm.”

Devex obtained a copy of the email sent to USAid employees working at its headquarters at the Ronald Reagan building in Washington DC. It purported to come from “senior leadership”, and came one day after the agency’s website went offline and hours after its director of security, John Voorhees, and a deputy were placed on “administrative leave” after they physically blocked the Doge team from restricted areas.

Doge subsequently gained control of the building’s access system, which allowed them to lock out employees and read emails. The department also sought personnel files and turnstile data, sources said.

“Agency personnel normally assigned to work at USAid headquarters will work remotely tomorrow, with the exception of personnel with essential on-site and building maintenance functions individually contacted by senior leadership,” the Sunday night email said.

Sources familiar with proposals for the agency’s future told Reuters on Friday that Trump and Musk were moving to merge USAid and its current $42.8bn budget for global humanitarian operations into the state department.

There was no immediate comment from Trump or the White House on Monday. The president was flying back to Washington DC from Florida as a US trade war with Canada, China and Mexico over tariffs heated up.

 

 

Author: Richard Luscombe

Source: The Guardian

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