Scoop: USAID employees barred from discussing 4 executive orders publicly

The United States Agency for International Development has lifted its pause on all communications with the public, except for those that relate to four executive orders that U.S. President Donald Trump issued on Monday after his inauguration. The directive also includes archiving and unpublishing content on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programming that already exists. Devex reported on Tuesday that USAID employees had been told in the lead-up to the inauguration, to pause all public communications until further notice. On Wednesday, Lauren Shaw, the director of internal communications at USAID, wrote an email to staff members that indicated this temporary pause on all communication, including on traditional and social media, would be lifted on Thursday morning. But USAID employees are still forbidden to talk about four executive orders that Trump issued. That includes a 90-day pause in disbursements of foreign aid to assess efficiency and decide which programs will continue and which ones will be canceled, the federal end of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, or DEIA, programs, a federal hiring freeze, and the mandate for federal employees to return to the office, as opposed to working remotely. Shaw wrote in the email, of which Devex obtained a copy, that “the temporary pause on all public communication on both traditional and social media is lifted for content that is unrelated to the four Executive Orders issued on January 20 that relate to USAID.” Shaw further elaborated on the executive order related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programming, saying “there should be no new content released or published on DEIA, to include USAID programs that touch DEIA. If there are specific web pages, social handles, or any other public facing content specifically focused on DEIA, they should be archived and unpublished appropriately.” “Please continue to exercise discretion as we await further guidance from leadership,” she added. Shaw also noted USAID implementing partners are “encouraged to adhere to the same guidelines” whenever it’s possible. Scheduled events, speaking engagements, and public appearances can move ahead as planned, she added. USAID had not responded to Devex’s requests for comment at time of publication.