According to CNN, according to the instructions of the agency's management, employees who usually work at the USAID headquarters will now work remotely, with the exception of staff performing basic maintenance functions on site and in the building, whom the top management will contact individually, Dune news agency reports.
It is noted that logos and photographs describing the activities of USAID were removed from the walls of the building. The agency's official website and social media accounts have shut down as thousands of layoffs, layoffs and program closures continue amid President Donald Trump's freeze on U.S.-funded foreign aid and development around the world.
The day before, US President Donald Trump announced the planned resignations in the leadership of the organization, which later sent some employees on unpaid leave or terminated contracts due to suspicions of trying to circumvent the presidential decree suspending aid programs to other countries.
Earlier, Elon Musk, one of the heads of the Government Efficiency Department and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, criticized USAID, calling the agency a criminal organization and unreasonably accusing it of financing the development of biological weapons, to which the entrepreneur attributed COVID-19.
Established in 1961, USAID distributes billions of dollars annually around the world to help fight poverty, treat diseases, and eliminate the effects of hunger and natural disasters. It also promotes democracy and development by supporting non-governmental organizations, independent media, and social initiatives. The annual budget of this independent agency is 42.8 billion dollars.
The Trump administration's freezing of foreign aid and the liquidation of the agency that oversees it is putting thousands of jobs in the United States and abroad at risk, industry sources told CNN.
In fact, thousands of Americans work for USAID around the world, and according to employees in the United States and abroad, the funding freeze will have long-term consequences for the country's national security.
