Two current and former USAID employees told NBC News that one of the few senior career civil servants with the power to do so temporarily revoked an order that sidelined nearly 60 top career officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development on Thursday.
The same professional worker was put on administrative leave a few hours later as well.
Nick Gottlieb, USAID’s director of employee and labor relations, sent an email to the dozens of top USAID employees who were placed on paid leave on Monday, stating that the documents do not demonstrate any misbehavior on your part. I am therefore no longer able to keep you in this position.
Gottlieb admitted he had no idea how long his choice would last.
Within the day, you might get another email confirming your leave status. “I wish you all the best, but that notice will not come from me,” he wrote, adding, “you do not deserve this.”
Since the State Department declared a nearly complete suspension on U.S. foreign aid in accordance with President Donald Trump’s executive order, USAID has been in shock. According to two former and two current USAID employees, hundreds of contractors for the agency were laid off this week, and hundreds more are being placed on furlough, in addition to the scores of career senior civil officials and foreign service officers who were placed on administrative leave. Two of the sources say further furloughs are anticipated in the days ahead.
Hours after top professional leadership was restored In a farewell letter to all USAID employees examined by NBC, Gottlieb also received an administrative leave on Thursday for turning down a request from the front office of USAID and Trump’s recently established Department of Government Efficiency to give immediate termination notices to a group of workers without following the proper procedures.
According to Gottlieb, “my office has always been committed to the workforce by making sure that every employee receives due process in any of our actions.” If that vow is broken, I will not be complicit.
He concluded by asking individuals who are still employed by the organization to show kindness to his workers, who would surely be short-staffed. He added, “Working with all of you at this Agency has been an honor, which I treasure.”
A request for comment from NBC News was not immediately answered by the State Department or USAID.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio approved an enlarged waiver on Wednesday to include all life-saving help in the wide freeze of U.S. foreign aid; nevertheless, the executive order’s exclusions have not yet slowed the USAID job reductions.
In an interview with Megyn Kelly on Thursday, Rubio stated, “We have this thing that I’ve called the foreign aid industrial complex: All of these entities around the world that are getting millions and millions of dollars from the United States.” We must ensure that it is in line with our national interest, that we are giving it top priority, and that we are allocating the funds to initiatives that are both productive and significant.
Jeremy Konyndyk, a former USAID official, cautioned that it would be difficult to undo the harm done by the reductions in U.S. financing for assistance organizations and development world personnel.
In order to carry out US foreign aid policies and to pursue humanitarian and global health goals overseas, the U.S. government and its nonprofit and contractor partners have a symbiotic relationship,” Konyndyk, who is currently head of the aid organization Refugees International, stated in an interview. It’s quite advanced. It’s really complicated. This will seriously disrupt the framework of U.S. foreign aid that has been established over the past 50 years if it continues for any length of time.