UNITED STATES President Donald Trump's administration told Congress on Friday it would cut nearly all remaining jobs at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and shut the agency, even as Trump promised that the U.S. would provide assistance to Myanmar following a devastating earthquake.
Reuters reported that humanitarian aid experts expressed alarm at the new cuts to an agency whose humanitarian aid has gained Washington influence and saved lives across the globe for more than 60 years. USAID plays a major role in coordinating earthquake assistance.
Thousands of USAID staff and Foreign Service officers assigned to the agency learned in an internal memo that all positions not required by law would be eliminated in July and September.
The memo reviewed by Reuters was sent to staff by Jeremy Lewin, the agency's acting deputy administrator and a member of billionaire Elon Musk’s job-cutting Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE oversaw a first round of cuts to USAID last month.
The State Department notification to Congress of the job cuts, also seen by Reuters, said USAID missions worldwide would be closed and the agency's remaining functions would be folded into State.
Cuts at the agency have thrown humanitarian efforts around the world into turmoil. The latest notice came on the day that a powerful earthquake hit Thailand and Myanmar, toppling buildings and killing scores of people. USAID has historically played a major role in coordinating disaster relief efforts.
A U.S. appeals court on Friday ruled that Musk and DOGE can keep making cuts to USAID while they appeal a lower court order that had barred them from doing so.
U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks, top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement that closing USAID was illegal and aimed at withdrawing the U.S. "from its global leadership role with as much cruelty and disruption as possible." - March 29, 2025
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