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‘15 minutes to clear out workstations’: Notice to fired, on leave USAID staffers
The USAID notice said that fired staffers must submit all their agency-issued assets, while those on leave can retain them, including the diplomatic passports.
Thousands of employees of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) who have been fired or placed on leave, as part of the Trump administration's drive to dismantle the agency, have been given a brief window of 15 minutes to clear out their workspaces, The Associated Press reported.
The federal agency has been one of the biggest targets of the campaign led by Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) co-chair Elon Musk. Their efforts are aimed at cutting down the size of the federal government as well as its spending.
On Monday, USAID placed 4,080 staffers working across the globe on leave. A State Department spokesman, as cited by AP, said that this was joined by a "reduction of force" that will affect another 1,600 employees.
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While the Republican majority in the House and the Senate have not made any pushbacks against the Trump administration's move, a report from the Congressional Research Service earlier this month said that congressional approval is required to "abolish, move, or consolidate USAID".
The exact figure of employees from the more than 5,600 USAID employees who have been fired or placed on leave belonging to the agency's headquarters in Washington is unknown.
However, a notice on USAID's website said that staffers at other locations will get a chance to collect their personal belongings at a later date.
The notice also defines clear instructions for when a specific set of employees should arrive at the offices for security screening and being escorted to their former workspaces.
‘15 minutes to collect personal items’
The employees who have been fired are required to submit all of their USAID-issued assets and those placed on leave can retain their assets, including the diplomatic passports "until such time that they are separated from the agency".
The notice further informed the employees that each staffer is being given just 15 minutes to clear out their former workstation. It also asked the staff to not bring weapons, including firearms, "spear guns" and “hand grenades”.
“Staff will be given approximately 15 minutes to complete this retrieval and must be finished removing items within their time slot only. Staff with a significant amount of personal belongings to retrieve must be cognizant of time; however, flexibility may be granted in select circumstances with the approval of the Office of Security,” the notice read.
Meanwhile, despite several lawsuits being filed against the Trump administration's efforts to slash the federal agency, the court challenges to temporarily halt the shutdown of USAID have been unsuccessful.
ALSO READ | Trump fires 1,600 USAID employees, others sent on indefinite paid leave
However, a federal judge on Tuesday gave a deadline to the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in US foreign aid this week, saying that it had given no sign of complying with his nearly two-week-old court order to ease the funding freeze.
The Supreme Court late Wednesday blocked that order temporarily, with Chief Justice John Roberts saying that it will remain on hold until the high court has a chance to weigh in more fully.
Democratic Representative from Virginia, Gerald Connolly, described the attack on USAID employees as "unwarranted and unprecedented". He called the federal agency part of the "world's premier development and foreign assistance agency” that saves “millions of lives every year.”
(with AP inputs)
