Thousands of employees at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will be placed on leave from Friday night, the agency has said in a statement on its website.
In the announcement, USAID said all “direct-hire personnel” will be placed on leave at the end of this week except those on “mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs”.
The move is the latest in a string of cuts President Donald Trump has made to government-funded programs since returning to office last month.
The USAID said it would work with the State Department to arrange and pay for return travel for its many personnel posted outside the US within the month.
According to the Congressional Research Service, the agency provides humanitarian aid to more than 100 countries, employs 10,000 people worldwide and two-thirds of those people work overseas.
