Demonstrators gathered on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, to protest the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — Thousands gathered on Capitol Hill Wednesday to protest the Trump administration’s bulldozing of U.S. disaster aid and critical medical care in war-torn and poverty-stricken regions around the globe.
The future of American humanitarian efforts is unclear after U.S. Agency for International Development employees were told late Tuesday to prepare for administrative leave and abandon global posts within a few weeks.
A throng of demonstrators near the U.S. Senate office buildings carried signs reading “Republicans, where are your spines?” and “USAID makes America safe, strong and prosperous.”
They encircled Democratic lawmakers and former USAID officials, who pleaded with the crowd to “not give up” as the Republican-held Congress allows “Elon Musk’s illegal takeover of USAID” — as Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs of California put it.
“And let’s be clear, while USAID might be first, it is not going to be the last. But joke’s on them because who knows better how to work in an authoritarian country than all of you?” she said to a cheering crowd that included humanitarian workers.
DOGE takeover
Individuals identifying themselves as part of Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” forcefully entered the computer systems at USAID’s Washington, D.C., headquarters over the weekend.
Democratic lawmakers have vowed “to fight this legally in every way we can,” Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey told the crowd.
“We will fight their violation of civil service laws. We will fight their violation of civil rights laws. We will fight their violations of separation of powers. We will fight their violations of our Constitution of the United States of America,” Booker said, issuing a plea for Republicans to join in sponsoring legislation to save USAID.
“This is not about demonizing a political party. It is about telling the truth about Donald Trump’s actions and Elon Musk’s actions,” Booker said.
Rep. Madeleine Dean told the crowd “do not fatigue.”
“These are not normal times,” said the Pennsylvania Democrat. “What is going on is corrupt. It is cruel, it is chaotic, it is lawless, it is unconstitutional, and that’s the point. Do not go home. Please stay with us. Bring more people to us and demand the same of our Republican colleagues. Where are they? When will they stand up to this lawless administration?”
In response to questions about Musk’s personnel gaining entry to USAID, President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that the agency is “run by radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out and we’ll make a decision.”
Trump placed Musk in charge of the “U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization” that, according to Trump’s own executive order, is supposed to modernize federal technology and software. Musk has used it to gain access to USAID, as well as the Treasury Department’s payment systems — for which the department is now facing a lawsuit.
All workers on leave
All “direct hire” USAID workers will be placed on leave as of 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Friday, according to a message posted late Tuesday on USAID.gov. The message is the first item to appear on the website since it went dark Saturday.
Workers who are “designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs” will be notified by Thursday at 3 p.m. Eastern if they are expected to continue working, according to the memo. Overseas workers have 30 days to leave their posts unless given an exception for a special circumstance.
“Thank you for your service,” the message concluded.
The Department of State did not respond to States Newsroom’s questions regarding how many workers will remain employed and where they will continue humanitarian missions.
Two-thirds of the roughly 10,000 USAID employees work overseas. The top 10 recipients of USAID assistance in 2023, the most recent complete data available, were Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Syria, according to the Congressional Research Service.
“You know who’s cheering today?” Bama Athreya, former USAID deputy administrator, asked the crowd. “ISIS is cheering. Al Qaeda is cheering as we recall thousands of people around the world” who give young people and families “options,” she said.
Ukraine aid
Congress allocated roughly $40 billion for USAID in 2023. That year, the agency allocated a large chunk to governance and humanitarian aid for Ukraine as the Eastern European nation faces a continued invasion from Russia.
The agency also carries a reputation for its work containing global health emergencies — perhaps best known for administering funds to fight the global AIDS epidemic under President George W. Bush’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.
Atul Gawande, a surgeon who led USAID’s global health program for three years prior to Trump’s second administration, led the crowd in a “Let them work” chant.
“Until two weeks ago, there was a malaria team with world experts, and they are gone. Until two weeks ago, there was a TB (tuberculosis) team, and they are gone,” Gawande said.
“They have called this ‘shock and awe.’ It is shock and destroy. You cannot dismantle a plane and fire the crew in mid-flight, but that’s what an oligarch with unchecked power is doing to life-saving foreign assistance programs,” Gawande said.
Brian York, 41, of Fairfax County, Virginia, stood in the crowd with a double-sided hand-drawn sign bearing the messages “Let’s Make America Gracious Again” and “Defend USAID.”
“I support my government. I was a Boy Scout. My father was a naval aviator. I actually like this country, and I want it to do better than this,” York said.
List of ‘waste, fraud and abuse’
The White House maintains that USAID “has been completely unaccountable for decades, run by bureaucrats with agendas who believed they answered to nobody.”
In a post on X Wednesday, White House communications personnel listed 28 of what they characterized as problematic USAID projects.
Without specifying details, including the length of funding, the post specifically listed: “$6.3 million for men who have sex with men in South Africa,” “$1.3 million to Arab and Jewish photographers,” “$20 million for a new Sesame Street show in Iraq,” “$1.5 million for ‘art for inclusion of people with disabilities,’” and “$500K to solve sectarian violence in Israel.”
“President Trump is STOPPING the waste, fraud, and abuse,” concluded the post on X, which is owned by Musk, a billionaire Trump campaign donor.
USAID’s X account disappeared over the weekend.
Democratic lawmakers protested outside USAID headquarters Monday as Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he was now acting administrator of the agency.
Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, one of the protesting lawmakers, said he would block Trump’s forthcoming Department of State nominations — a move that will slow down, but not stop, the nominations in the GOP-led chamber.