President Donald Trump's administration plans to keep fewer than 300 staff at the US Agency for International Development out of the agency's worldwide total of more than 10,000, sources told Reuters on Thursday.
Washington's primary humanitarian aid agency has been a target of a government reorganisation programme led by businessman Elon Musk, a close Trump ally, since the Republican President took office on January 20.
The four sources familiar with the plan said only 294 staff at the agency would be allowed to keep their jobs.
With Mr Trump and Mr Musk, the world's wealthiest man, levying false accusations that its staff were criminals and allegations that funds were stolen, dozens of USAID staff have been put on leave, thousands of internal contractors have been laid off and life-saving programmes around the globe have been left in limbo.
The administration announced on Tuesday it was going to put on leave all directly hired USAID employees globally, and recall thousands of personnel working overseas.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said the administration was identifying and designating programmes that would be exempt from the sweeping stop-work orders, which have threatened efforts around the globe to stop the spread of disease, prevent famine and otherwise alleviate poverty.
The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
USAID employed more than 10,000 people around the world, two thirds of them outside the US, according to the Congressional Research Service. It managed more than $40 billion in fiscal 2023, the most recent year for which there is complete data.
Sources familiar with events at the agency on Thursday said some workers had begun receiving redundancy notices.
The agency's website said that as of midnight on Friday, February 7, “all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programmes”.
It said essential personnel expected to continue working would be informed on Thursday.
The agency provides aid to some 130 countries in 2023, many of them shattered by conflict and deeply impoverished. The top recipients were Ukraine, followed by Ethiopia, Jordan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Yemen and Afghanistan, according to the CRS report.
