President had already placed almost all of the US agency for international development on license
President Donald Trump (Republican )’s government plans to reduce the number of workers in the US agency for international development from more than 10,000 to about 290 employees.
The positions that should be kept are held by employees specializing in humanitarian and health care, according to. USAID officials submitted to the state department long lists of personnel they considered essential for the execution of life rescue programs and other critical initiatives.
On Thursday (6.FEV.2025), USAID officials were informed that approximately 800 contracts managed by the agency, as well as concessions, would be canceled. The measures were given 1 day before almost all direct hiring of the agency, including the list of officials of the Foreign Affairs Service, being placed on an indefinite administrative license.
Employees allocated abroad will have up to 30 days to return to the United States. The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who took control of USAID as an interim administrator on Monday (3.FEV), said during an interview with Fox Newsthis week, that the measure did not represent that the country was “getting rid ofTo provide external help.
“But now we have a widespread insubordination”he said, adding that USAID employees did not cooperate “completely”. He stated: “Therefore, we had no choice but to take dramatic measures to control this situation”.
On Thursday (6.FEV), Rubio reiterated the promise that exemptions would be offered to some workers to minimize the difficulties of sudden dismissal. The promise was released in a warning published on the USAID website on Tuesday (4.FEV), which announced that employees around the world would be placed on administrative license or dismissed until this Friday (7.FEV).
“We are not trying to disturb people’s lives”Rubio said to reporters while traveling the Dominican Republic. “We are not being punitive here. But this is the only way to get USAID cooperation”He said.
Two unions representing USAID officials filed a lawsuit on Thursday (6.FEV) against Trump, Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, along with the Agency, State Department and the Treasury Department.
In the action, they argue that the reduction of personnel and the cancellation of global aid contracts are unconstitutional and violate the separation of powers.
“What we are seeing is an illegal seizure of this agency by the Trump administration, in a clear violation of basic constitutional principles”said Robin Thurston, legal director of Democracy Forwardone of the two defense organizations that opened the process in the name of the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government employees, adding that the administration “Created a global humanitarian crisis.”
What is USAID
The United States Agency for International Development was created in 1961 was by then -President John Kennedy. By decree, he unified several US care programs. Until the arrival of Republican Donald Trump at the White House on January 20, 2025, operated in over 100 countries.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the agency was seen in third world countries, such as Brazil, as an instrument of US interference in various areas, especially to promote US political values. In Brazilian left movements, USAID (whose name was pronounced “USonid ”here) was considered a kind of beast of imperialism.
From the 1980s and, more recently, in the 2000s, USAID began to act on agenda more human rights, environment and in favor of minorities. There was an approximation of identity themes and so the image of the agency has changed, being respected by the left in countries such as Brazil – and by the Militants of the Democratic Party in the US.
The agency’s English name is “United States Agency for International Development”. The Americans, in general, spell the first two letters “U” and “s” and then speak the final acronym as if it were an “AID” word (whose meaning is “aid”). The agency’s slogan, just below the acronym, is “from the American People”. Is that US and AID can be translated as “United States Help” –Daí the complement “of the American people ”.
O Poder360 It adopts in its texts the spelling of the way the acronym is most commonly spoken in the US: USaid.
