U.S. President, Donald Trump has suspended dozens of government officials for trying to block his executive order on freezing all foreign aid.
Dozens of career government officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development were placed on leave on Monday, January 27. One agency staffer told the Wall Street Journal that 57 people were affected.
‘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 the newly installed acting administrator, Jason Gray, in an email obtained by The Washington Post.
‘As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice.’
Trump, on January 24th, declared the State Department and the U.S. AID ‘shall not provide foreign assistance’ until a high-level review of the programs is completed, except for Israel and Egypt and in severe cases where emergency food assistance is needed.
The 90-day pause is to ensure all programs conform with Trump’s ‘America First’ policy and the administration threatened ‘disciplinary action’ for any staff ignoring the orders.
Several hundred contractors based in Washington and elsewhere also were laid off, the officials said.
It follows Trump’s executive order last week that directed a sweeping 90-day pause on most U.S. foreign assistance disbursed through the State Department.
As a result of the freeze, thousands of U.S.-funded humanitarian, development, and security programs worldwide had stopped work or were preparing to do so. Without funds to pay staff, aid organizations were laying off hundreds of employees.
An internal USAID notice sent late Monday and obtained by The Associated Press said new acting administrator Jason Gray had identified “several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the President’s Executive Orders and the mandate from the American people.”
“As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we complete our analysis of these actions,” Gray wrote.
The senior agency officials put on leave were experienced employees who had served in multiple administrations, including Trump’s, the former USAID official said.
Before those officials were removed from the job Monday, they were scrambling to help U.S.-funded aid organizations cope with the new funding freeze and seek waivers to continue life-saving activities, from getting clean water to war-displaced people in Sudan to continuing to monitor for bird flu globally, the former official said.