As the United States Agency for International Development remains in limbo, Scripps News has learned from agency sources and court filings about physical security concerns for USAID employees, as well as broader national security risks associated with halting and resuming the agency’s work.
In a new court filing, USAID staff detail harrowing moments as they fled the Democratic Republic of Congo after the State Department advised Americans to leave as protestors attacked U.S. buildings on January 28. One foreign service officer says in the lawsuit that he feared for his family’s safety as the protests grew, noting that he “began to feel an intense sense of panic that my government might fully abandon Americans working for USAID in Kinshasa.” The foreign service officer also details the financial strain of arranging evacuation plans for himself and his family.
Scripps News also spoke with an American employee of a non-governmental organization that implements a USAID project in East Africa. For several months, they had been working on a project providing HIV/AIDS treatment plans and services to adolescents. However, all USAID funding to their nonprofit has been cut off, leaving the source now searching for a new job. They described the chaos that followed when, a few weeks ago, 200 employees at their organization were told to stop working after President Donald Trump ordered the agency to nearly shut down.
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“I don’t think anyone has any idea what’s going on,” the worker said. They added, "What was USAID is kind of shredded to pieces now.”
The communication lines between the agency and the non-governmental organizations that relied on them for funding have dried up as well.
The source said they feel safe living in East Africa, but note that when they tell people they are American, “People do cast a little bit of judgment, and say, ‘Well why are you doing all this stuff.’” This NGO worker said they’ve had to have conversations explaining that they understand the importance of USAID and AIDS relief in the host country and still want to help, but cannot.
Longterm, the NGO employee said that they are worried about Russia and China coming in and taking over the U.S.’s role in the development sector, especially when it comes to medical services. The source said that USAID “builds a really positive image of the U.S.,” but the current situation “really hurts our image.”
The administration’s actions to transform the federal government have landed Elon Musk and DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, as the subjects of numerous lawsuits.
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A group of 26 anonymous USAID employees filed a lawsuit against both Musk and DOGE, making serious allegations about cybersecurity and privacy breaches. One cybersecurity employee at USAID alleges in the suit that DOGE employees had gained “root access” to their systems, the highest level of access, which gives someone the ability to modify, add or delete data, and create user accounts. It also gives DOGE employees the ability to see, delete and send emails on behalf of every user within USAID. That USAID employee says DOGE’s actions caused “emotional injury.”
Meanwhile, in the U.S., a Trump-appointed federal judge said Thursday that he would take another week to review the situation at USAID, and potentially determine the agency’s fate. However, sources within USAID told Scripps News that employees, both domestically and abroad, remain unable to perform most of their work while the agency’s status remains unresolved.
