President Donald Trump's administration plans to keep fewer than 300 staff at the U.S. Agency for International Development out of the agency's worldwide total of more than 10,000, four sources told Reuters on Thursday.
Washington's primary humanitarian aid agency has been a target of a government reorganization program spearheaded by businessman Elon Musk, a close Trump ally, since the Republican president took office on Jan. 20.
The four sources familiar with the plan said only 294 staff at the agency would be allowed to keep their jobs.
Dozens of USAID staff have been put on leave, hundreds of internal contractors have been laid off and programs around the globe have been left in limbo.
The administration announced 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 programs that would be exempted from the sweeping stop-work orders.
The U.S. Department of State 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 United States, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). 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 termination notices.
The USAID website said that as of midnight on Friday, Feb, 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 programs."
It said essential personnel expected to continue working would be informed by Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.
The agency provides aid to some 130 countries in 2023. The top recipients were Ukraine, followed by Ethiopia, Jordan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Yemen and Afghanistan, according to the CRS report.