USAID workers return to HQ to clear their desks, as Trump dismantles the agency

AP

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration has been dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development. The headquarters have been closed for weeks, but on Thursday, some workers got back to their desks to clean them out.

Applause broke out in the lobby in the Ronald Reagan Building each time USAID officials walked out of the elevators with bags of pictures, posters and other knickknacks from their time in public office.

Employees who have been fired or put on administrative leave were told to show up at the now-shuttered USAID headquarters in Washington at an appointed time and given 15 minutes to clear out their desks.

Former USAID administrators Samantha Power and Gayle Smith were both there to support their old colleagues.

"The manner in which this is being done is the exact opposite of USAID's mission," Power said. "USAID's mission is about elevating human dignity and this is about trampling it at every turn."

Power, who ran the agency under former President Joe Biden, says the Trump administration has been moving fast in what she calls the ultimate "shock and awe" approach — not giving time to allow the courts and supporters of USAID on Capitol Hill to get their bearings.

"I've just seen my former colleagues walk out with their possessions, some of whom have worked here for 30 years," Power told NPR, "and seeing a lot of tears and a lot of heartache."

Most of the departing USAID employees didn't want to share their names, for fear of retribution. One who came to the U.S. as a refugee said she wanted to work for the agency, to give back to the U.S.

Another woman, who had worked for the agency for 11 years, said she was fired from the Africa bureau. "I didn't think I would be ending my career like this," she said.

Trump administration officials have branded the agency's employees as criminals and "radical-left Marxists."

The administration has canceled existing USAID contracts following a review of foreign assistance "to ensure taxpayer dollars were used to make America stronger, safer, and more prosperous," the State Department says. The administration asked the Supreme Court to weigh in after a federal district court ordered payment to agency contractors for work that has already been done. Late Wednesday, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked the lower court's order.

Aid groups and advocates have raised alarm that cutting USAID — which supported projects in more than 120 countries and worked to prevent the spread of disease and eliminate poverty — will lead to loss of life, particularly in global humanitarian crisis zones.

Smith, who was a former USAID administrator under former President Barack Obama, said she was watching the various court cases closely. "We'll see what the Supreme Court comes back with, whether that's catch your breath or they're really going to say it's all right if the U.S. government doesn't pay its bills."

Smith worries that scenes like the one on Thursday could turn young people away from public service.

"From a foreign policy point of view, this is crazy," Smith said. "You don't just cut off your arm and say we'll figure out later whether or not we need it."