Trump administration to cut all USAID overseas roles

The Trump administration will eliminate all USAID (United States Agency for International Development) overseas positions worldwide by 30 September in a dramatic restructuring of remaining US foreign aid operations.

In a Tuesday state department cable obtained by the Guardian, secretary of state Marco Rubio ordered the abolishment of the agency’s entire international workforce, transferring control of foreign assistance programs directly to the state department.

The directive affects hundreds of USAID staff globally, including foreign service officers, contractors and locally employed personnel across more than 100 countries. Chiefs of mission at US embassies have been told to prepare for the sweeping changes to occur within four months.

“The Department of State is streamlining procedures under National Security Decision Directive 38 to abolish all USAID overseas positions,” the cable reads, adding that the department “will assume responsibility for foreign assistance programming previously undertaken by USAID” from 15 June.

Tammy Bruce, the state department spokesperson, confirmed the cable during a press briefing Tuesday afternoon, telling reporters that the incoming actions are just following through on Trump administration promises to destroy the agency.

“So this was a cable, telling our posts exactly what they were expecting to be told, which is that those positions were being eliminated. So it wasn’t a surprise. It’s nothing new,” Bruce said. “And, it is exactly what we previewed, in February and March of this year.”

The decision to close the agency comes after the Trump administration – under the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) – eliminated 83% of USAID’s programs in a six-week purge after Donald Trump took office.

Rubio announced in March that 5,200 of the agency’s 6,200 programs worldwide had been terminated, with the surviving initiatives being absorbed into the state department.

The closures followed an executive order from Trump on his first day back in the White House on 20 January freezing foreign assistance pending a review.

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