The Trump administration placed several dozen senior officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development on administrative leave in response to what an official characterized as resistance to President Trump’s policy.
An email on Monday to USAID staff from the agency’s acting administrator, Jason Gray, said that Trump officials “have identified several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent” an executive order.
Mr. Gray did not provide further details on those actions, but added that as a result “a number of USAID employees” had been placed on leave “with full pay until further notice.”
One person briefed on the new order said that it covered about 60 senior officials at the agency. Another person said the officials placed on leave included the leaders overseeing global health aid, one of the largest parts of USAID.
With a budget of $22.6 billion, USAID’s global work also includes disaster relief, aid for refugees and anti-poverty programs.
The agency’s supporters say that its efforts earn the United States enormous good will internationally and also promote political stability that serves the country’s security interests — all for about 0.2 percent of the federal budget. But many conservatives have long questioned foreign aid programs, and Mr. Trump and his allies are determined to slash federal spending wherever possible.
Mr. Gray’s email appears to reflect Trump officials’ determination to ensure that federal workers carry out even his most dramatic orders — and to move them out of the way if they will not. In this case, the directive in question is almost certainly an executive order Mr. Trump signed last week to freeze nearly all U.S. foreign aid funded by USAID and the State Department.
“He is initiating a review of all foreign assistance programs to ensure they are efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda,” the State Department spokeswoman, Tammy Bruce, said in a statement on Friday.
The order does not apply to weapons support to Israel and Egypt, or to emergency food assistance, according to a memo issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday.
Citing a 90-day reassessment period, the State Department memo requires employees to refrain from designating new foreign aid funding or accepting funding applications, and to issue “stop-work” orders to grantees.
Many contractors who perform infrastructure support for USAID were placed on furlough as well.
