The agency said all direct hires, “with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions,” would be placed on administrative leave.

Summary

USAID announced that nearly all direct hires worldwide will be placed on administrative leave starting Friday, except for essential personnel.

The decision follows Trump’s attacks on the agency and his broader freeze on foreign aid.

USAID’s headquarters were closed Monday, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio took control, appointing Pete Marocco to lead it.

Critics, including lawmakers and the American Foreign Service Association, argue this move is illegal and could weaken U.S. influence, benefiting China and Russia.

  • over_clox@lemmy.world
    303·
    12 hours ago

    I love how articles like this make absolutely no reference to exact dates and times. Tuesday and Thursday could be from this week (today is Tuesday, February 4th, 2025), last November, or next December.

    Articles and reports like these lose all historical context if not properly dated. Fuck, NBCNews couldn’t even be bothered to document the date and time?

    Edit: It seems they updated their article to reflect the date and time they posted and last edited their article, only approximately 6 minutes after I posted this.

    “Updated Feb. 4, 2025, 10:29 PM CST”

    That text wasn’t available when I first viewed the article.

    • Kairos
      91·
      12 hours ago

      Its a relic when newspapers were the only way people got news, so it was deterministic.

      • over_clox@lemmy.world
        41·
        12 hours ago

        Have an upvote, but also read my edited comment.

        Something changed real quick there…

    • aaron@lemm.eeEnglish
      41·
      12 hours ago

      Thank you for pointing this out. This shit exists everywhere across non-Fox media. Can someone point me to a news org that isn’t purely motivated by money?

      Edit: Fox is much worse than this to be clear