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CNN
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More officials across the US Agency for International Development began getting notices Tuesday evening that they were being put on administrative leave, expected to be part of a widespread effort to cut staffers out of the system.
Multiple officials shared with CNN the notice from the acting deputy administrator, Peter Marocco. The notices went to officials based overseas and in Washington, DC.
“You will remain on administrative leave with pay until otherwise notified,” the notice states.
“During the period that you are on administrative leave you are not to enter USAID premises, access USAID systems, or attempt to use your position or authority with USAID in any way without my prior permission or prior permission of a supervisor in your chain of command,” Marocco says in the letter.
The notices come as the Trump administration has begun dismantling the agency and frozen almost all foreign aid. A day earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he would be acting administrator of USAID, confirming the de-facto takeover of the humanitarian agency by the State Department.
In recent days, dozens of senior USAID officials have been placed on leave, thousands of contractors have been laid off, and employees were told this week not to report to the agency’s Washington headquarters. USAID’s website and X account were also taken down.
When a reporter told Trump on Tuesday that it sounded like he was going to “wind down” the agency, the president laughed and said, “Sounds like it.”
“Look at all the fraud that he’s found in this USAID,” the president said of Elon Musk, the tech billionaire leading the Department of Governmental Efficiency. “It has to be corrupt,” Trump added without evidence.
Marocco’s Tuesday letter instructed employees to email a USAID official with their “personal contact information, including your phone number, email and mailing address,” so they can remain available during regular business hours. A USAID employee told CNN they emailed and got a bounce back, saying that person is also on leave.
“People are hysterical. My friends are crying. We don’t know what’s going on,” said one USAID official put on leave. They noted that officials posted abroad may have children in school or spouses with jobs, and now that is “all uprooted.”
“No access to any government system; can’t see emails. It’s like we’re criminals,” the official said.
On Monday, thousands of personal services contractors and civil servants lost access to email and USAID systems overnight. The sudden chaos has left employees struggling to get any answers, officials said.
Additionally, USAID headquarters and annex offices in the Washington, DC, area will remain closed the remainder of the week, according to an email sent to staff Tuesday and obtained by CNN. The offices closed include the headquarters in Washington; a second DC annex location; an office in Leesburg, Virginia; and one in Springfield, Virginia.
“Agency personnel normally assigned to work at these USAID properties should telework this week,” the email said.
There are some exceptions for personnel with essential on-site and building maintenance functions, the email said. The email noted employees are still “expected to remain available during regular business hours and operations.”
Those placed on leave Tuesday join top career staffers who were placed on immediate leave shortly after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Musk has led the Trump administration’s effort to weaken USAID, falsely calling it a “viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America” and branding it a “criminal organization” that should “die.”
The Trump administration’s actions have raised questions from Democrats over the legality of any wind-down of the agency that will likely have a dramatic consequence for global life-saving aid from the United States.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Alejandra Jaramillo contributed to this report.
