Explained: Why Has Donald Trump Placed 10,000 USAID Workers On Forced Leaves? 10 Points

(MENAFN- Live Mint) US President Donald trump has put into action a plan to cut down on the staff of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to fewer than 300 from the agency's worldwide total of more than 10,000 employees, who were laid off or placed on leave, Reuters reported citing sources.

Washington's primary humanitarian aid agency has been a target of a government reorganization program spearheaded by tech billionaire Elon Musk, a close Trump ally, since the Republican president took office on January 20.

On January 20, the day he was inaugurated, Donald Trump ordered a pause on all US foreign aid. The State Department then ordered the halting of USAID projects worldwide, agency computer systems went offline, and staff were abruptly laid off or placed on leave.

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• On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced it was going to put on leave all directly hired USAID employees globally and recall thousands of personnel working overseas.
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said the administration was identifying and designating programs that would be exempted from the sweeping stop-work orders, which have threatened efforts around the globe to stop the spread of disease, prevent famine and otherwise alleviate poverty.
• According to a Reuters report citing sources familiar with the Trump administration's plan, only 294 USAID staff would be allowed to keep their jobs. This included only 12 in the Africa bureau and 8 in the Asia bureau.

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• According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), USAID employs more than 10,000 people worldwide, of which two-thirds are outside the United States .
• Some workers have begun receiving termination notices, Reuters reported, citing sources at the agency.
• Federal employees were asked to indicate their interest by typing RESIGN into the subject line of an email from their government accounts.

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