The USAID (United States Agency for International Development) workers received an unexpected email at midnight to work remotely, following the closure of the main office in Washington.

The email from the agency, as per the copy obtained by the CNN, said that all the USAID workers will work remotely on Monday, except those who will be on-site for building maintenance or to handle essential tasks.

This comes as the new Trump administration and Elon Musk want to reform the federal government. The international aid agency has come under the radar of the government as the President said that the agency, which was created by Congress as an independent body, favours the Democrats and is openly partisan, reports CNN.

USAID is known for its humanitarian work across the globe.

Trump signals a complete ‘shutdown’ of the agency

“It’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out, and then we’ll make a decision”, Trump had this to say when asked for a comment on USAID on Sunday evening, as per CNN.

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Following this, Elon Musk, in a conversation on X Spaces, said that Trump is in agreement with the need to shut the agency down. Earlier, the Trump administration froze the agency’s funding and many of its employees were fired or furloughed, with almost 60 senior career leaders sidelined and the US foreign missions have been stalled. Thousands of other related jobs are also facing a threat of furlough or firing in the coming days, with those still employed bracing themselves for a possibility of the shutdown of USAID, reports NBC News.

Signs of the agency are being removed

Last week, many of USAID’s photos and logos showing their humanitarian work across the globe were removed from its offices, as per CNN. An employee at the agency said that all of the visuals had been taken down, including the large-scale photos of the work in developing countries put in the lobbies, galleys, hallways and in the communal kitchen. An order told the individual bureaus and offices to take out all USAID artwork and signage.

With the senior leaders being fired, there is hardly any information on the future of the agency.

Words from the opposition

The recent actions taken on USAID have received a reaction from the Democrats, according to NBC News. Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York and Lois Frankel of Florida wrote a statement late Friday, “It is imperative that we maintain an independent development voice and capability within the U.S. government. USAID is, by statute, an independent establishment outside of the State Department. Any proposal to modify that structure would require an Act of Congress.

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“What he’s doing now is frighteningly similar to everything he was trying to do at USAID before, but this time he’s destroying it”, an USAID official said.

FAQs

Q1. What does USAID do?
A. USAID works on foreign missions and provides humanitarian aid across the globe.

Q2. What does USAID stand for?
A. United States Agency for International Development