USAID workers abroad must return home by April, email says

USAID foreign service officers stationed abroad were informed via email Monday that they are directed to return to the U.S. by April 6.

The email, obtained by Scripps News, details instructions for updating personal information in the agency's system, which agents are required to complete by Thursday.

The email says anyone with a "reason to extend their time at their post beyond April 6" must make a request to do so. Those requests may be based on "compelling reasons" such as medical necessity or existing school term schedules. Employees will have to supply supporting documentation.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday 83% of USAID programs have been eliminated in the wake of a six-week review by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. The remaining programs will be moved to within the State Department.

Shuttered USAID programs "spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States," Rubio said. "In consultation with Congress, we intend for the remaining 18% of programs we are keeping ... to be administered more effectively under the State Department."

RELATED STORY | Labor groups sue over the dismantling of USAID

The State Department faces multiple lawsuits for its rapid shutdown of USAID, challenging its cutoffs of funding and alleging that the administration is working without Congress' approval.

One seeks a temporary restraining order directing the government to reverse actions and stop steps further dissolving the agency, alleging that none of the actions have received the necessary congressional authorization.

Another ruling forced the Trump administration to end a funding freeze on USAID programs, which it had put in place without approval from lawmakers.