Politics USAID staff should not come to work

SDA

3.2.2025 - 17:54

The US Agency for International Development (USAID). Photo: Mark Alfred/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
The US Agency for International Development (USAID). Photo: Mark Alfred/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Keystone

The employees of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being targeted by US President Donald Trump, are not to come to their workplaces in Washington today.

Keystone-SDA

The staff received an email on Monday night stating that they should not come to their workplace but work from home.

The email has been made available to several US media outlets, including the Washington Post, ABC and MSNBC. It was initially unclear whether the staff had complied with the order. According to reports, the email came from Trump advisor Elon Musk.

Government advisor Musk had announced that he wanted to close USAID. Trump had also declared on Monday night that the agency was being run by "lunatics". Hundreds of agency employees had already been dismissed or placed on leave in the past few days, and managers were let go.

It is questionable whether the agency can be dissolved by the president alone or even by his external advisor, the billionaire Musk, without the approval of parliamentary bodies. However, the Republicans dominated by Trump have majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate.