The officials in charge of shutting down what remains of the U.S. Agency for International Development are looking to hire additional contractors to complete the closeout process.
There’s one big stipulation in the job description, though — the external consulting firms that hire and onboard new employees on the U.S. government’s behalf are prohibited from recruiting anyone with previous USAID experience.
An internal “activity memo” obtained by Devex spells out the thinking behind this highly unusual hiring restriction — and the plan to bring on more contract staff even as Trump administration officials insist USAID is “dead and gone.”
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About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
