USAID's main office in Washington suddenly closes - CNN: Efforts are being made to remove the agency's signs!
The main office of the United States Agency for International Development in Washington was closed unexpectedly on Monday and workers were emailed shortly after midnight that they should not come inside, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
" At the direction of Agency leadership, USAID headquarters in the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, February 3, 2025. Agency personnel normally assigned to work at USAID headquarters will work remotely tomorrow, with the exception of essential on-site and facility maintenance personnel contacted individually by senior leadership," the email, a copy of which was obtained by CNN, said.
It's the latest ominous sign for the international aid agency, which has found itself at the center of efforts by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk to reform the federal government. Trump and his allies have said the agency, created by Congress as an independent body, is overtly partisan and favorable to Democrats.
In a chat at X Spaces early Monday, the tech entrepreneur said Trump agrees the agency should be "shut down" after days of speculation over its future after its funding was frozen and dozens of its employees were furloughed. Musk said he reached out to Trump "several times" and Trump confirmed he wants to shut down the agency, which distributes billions in humanitarian aid and development funds each year.
On Sunday night, before the X Spaces chat, when asked for comment on USAID, Trump told reporters, “It’s run by a bunch of radical lunatics and we’re taking them out and then we’ll make a decision” about the future. Over the weekend, two senior security officials at USAID were placed on administrative leave for refusing to let members of the Department of Government Efficiency access the agency’s systems, even as DOGE personnel threatened to call law enforcement, multiple sources familiar with the situation told CNN.
DOGE personnel wanted access to USAID security systems and personnel files, three sources said. Two of those sources also said DOGE personnel wanted access to classified information, which only those with security clearances and a specific need to know can access. Three sources told CNN that DOGE personnel were eventually able to enter the headquarters. Katie Miller, whom Trump appointed to DOGE in December, appeared to confirm on Sunday that DOGE personnel had access to classified information. “No classified material was accessed without proper security clearances,” she posted on X.
Efforts are being made to remove the agency's signs.
USAID logos and photos depicting the agency's humanitarian work around the globe were removed from its offices last week, multiple sources familiar with the situation told CNN. "All the visuals have been removed. These are like large-scale photos of our work in developing countries that are in our lobbies, in our galleries, in our communal kitchens, in the hallways," a USAID employee said. "An order also went out to individual offices and offices to remove all USAID artwork and signs."
Another USAID employee told CNN: “They’ve taken the pictures off the walls and we’re missing half of our colleagues because our colleagues have left and been let go and everyone feels like they’re walking around with a target on their back.” A source who works in a USAID annex building told CNN that they have no say in whether they have to go to work on Monday. When asked if leaders in their department seemed to have more information about the future of the agency’s work, the source said: “ Our senior leaders have all been fired.”
About 60 senior USAID employees were placed on leave last week on charges of trying to circumvent Trump's executive order to freeze foreign aid for 90 days. Many more junior staff and contractors within the agency have also been placed on leave, multiple sources told CNN. On Saturday, USAID's website went dark and a new page for the agency appeared on the State Department's website.
USAID's X account also went offline on Saturday, and a source told CNN that USAID's entire public relations office had been put on hiatus and locked out of their systems. Shortly after being sworn in last month, Trump issued a sweeping executive order cutting off all foreign aid for 90 days, leading to widespread confusion, layoffs and program closures.
USAID was founded in 1961 under the administration of President John F. Kennedy and is the humanitarian arm of the U.S. government. It distributes billions of dollars each year around the world in an effort to alleviate poverty, treat disease, and respond to famine and natural disasters. It also promotes democracy building and development by supporting nongovernmental organizations, independent media, and social initiatives.
USAID is a key U.S. soft power tool for fostering relationships with communities around the world, officials say, noting that U.S. national security is addressed through the "three Ds": defense, diplomacy, and development, led, respectively, by the Department of Defense, the State Department, and USAID.
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