USAID workers, most of whom are career government employees, were emailed shortly after midnight that they should not come into their Washington office, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
“At the direction of Agency leadership, the USAID headquarters at the Ronald Reagan building in Washington, D.C. will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, February 3, 2025. Agency personnel normally assigned to work at USAID headquarters will work remotely tomorrow, with the exception of personnel with essential on-site and building maintenance functions individually contacted by senior leadership,” said the email, of which CNN has obtained a copy.
Thousands of personal services contractors and civil servants lost access to email and USAID systems overnight.
The sudden chaos has left employees struggling to get any answers as they have gotten no information, officials aid. Personal services contractors, who travel on diplomatic passports and speak on behalf of the agency, are required to be given 15 days of notice before termination, but that has not happened.
Some USAID contractors who are on official work travel are suddenly stuck, some in sensitive and dangerous places, without answers of how they will get home.
A source who works in a USAID annex building told CNN they have no word on whether they should go to work on Monday.
When asked if leaders in their department appeared to have any more information on the future of the agency’s work, the source said: “Our senior leaders have all been fired.”
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USAID logos and photos showing the humanitarian work the agency does around the globe were removed from its offices last week, multiple sources familiar with the situation told CNN.
“All of the visuals have been taken down. These are like large-scale photos of our work in developing countries that are in our lobbies, in our galleys, in communal kitchens, hallways,” a USAID employee said. “An order also came down to individual bureaus and offices to remove all USAID artwork and signage.”
Another USAID worker told CNN: “They’ve taken the photos off the walls, and we’re missing half of our colleagues because our colleagues are gone and have been let go, and everyone sort of feels like they’re walking around with a target on their back.”
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