USAID direct hires put on leave worldwide, except those deemed essential

Thousands had already been laid off and programmes shut down after President Donald Trump froze foreign aid

Protesters against the Trump administration's actions gather outside USAID headquarters in Washington on Monday. AFP

President Donald Trump's administration is placing US Agency for International Development direct hire staff around the world on leave, except those deemed essential.

A notice posted online on Tuesday gives the workers 30 days to return home and takes aim at the aid agency’s six-decade mission overseas.

Thousands of USAID employees already had been laid off and programmes worldwide shut down after Mr Trump imposed a sweeping freeze on foreign assistance.

Elon Musk’s budget-slashing Department of Government Efficiency had taken USAID’s website offline at the weekend as it steadily dismantled the agency, which has been a special target of Mr Musk, Mr Trump and Republicans in the first two-and-a-half weeks of Mr Trump’s second term.

The website came back online on Tuesday night, with the notice of recall or termination for global staffers its sole post.

This move had been rumoured for several days and was the most extreme of several proposals considered for consolidating the agency into the State Department. Other options had included closures of smaller USAID missions and partial closures of larger ones.

The decision to withdraw direct hire staff and their families earlier than their planned departures will likely cost the government tens of millions of dollars in travel and relocation costs.