Most USAID Staff Across the World Will Be Put on Leave This Week

Most employees of the US Agency for International Development will be placed on administrative leave starting Friday.

People in “mission critical” and “core leadership” roles will be exempted, according to a statement posted on USAID’s website on Tuesday. Staff members stationed overseas must return within 30 days, with exceptions to be considered on a “case by case” basis, it said.

The beleaguered agency has become a battleground in the campaign by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk to restructure the federal government.

Demonstrators outside the US Agency for International Development (USAID) headquarters in Washington, DC on Feb. 3.

Photographer: Jason C. Andrew/Bloomberg

Last weekend, Musk singled out USAID repeatedly on X, the social media platform he owns, and Trump ...