Judge halts USAID layoffs as former USAID leaders speak out

A federal judge has paused until Friday the Trump administration’s plan to place more than 2,000 U.S. Agency for International Development employees on administrative leave as former USAID administrators in both Republican and Democratic administrations have issued statements critical of President Trump’s actions.

Because USAID is an agency created in statute by Congress, ProPublica Sunday said Trump may have violated federal laws.  The group of five former administrators said, “While we don’t agree on all issues, we wholeheartedly agree that USAID and America’s foreign assistance programs are vital to our interests, that the career men and women of USAID have served each of us well, and that it is the duty of the administration and Congress to swiftly protect the agency’s statutory role.” The statement was signed by former USAID administrators J. Brian Atwood, Peter McPherson, Andrew Natsios, Gayle Smith and Samantha Power.

Rajiv Shah, who was USAID administrator in the Obama administration, did not sign the letter, but issued his own statement from his position as president of the Rockefeller Foundation. “American humanitarian and development assistance, primarily delivered by the U.S. Agency for International Development working together with U.S. military service members and diplomats, has been essential to America’s national security for decades,” Shah wrote.

“We’re all better off for it. This work serves American interests: protecting us from wars, terror attacks, famines, pandemics, uncontrolled migration, and economic crises, even as it provides new markets, new allies, and new partners for the United States instead of America’s competitors. It has also furthered the belief — core to America’s founding, as well as the faiths of many Americans — that in serving the most vulnerable, we express our common humanity.

“Today, more than ever, the world needs individuals and institutions working toward shared prosperity and security. The Rockefeller Foundation is dedicated to doing our part, and we will continue to work with anyone committed to the same,” Shah said.

–The Hagstrom Report