On Monday, the U.S. Agency for International Development was hit by another aftershock: Nearly 60 senior executives at the agency were placed on administrative leave, along with select senior foreign service officers, deputy assistant administrators, and eight of USAID’s general counsel, including both ethics attorneys.
“We have identified several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the President’s Executive Orders and the mandate from the American people,” Jason Gray, the agency’s acting administrator, wrote in an email seen exclusively by Devex. “As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we complete our analysis of these actions.”
Several of those staff members were forced to leave the USAID building immediately, two sources told Devex. They all lost access to the central Ronald Reagan Building, and while some were escorted from the building, others couldn’t get back inside after being out when the announcement was made.