Trump’s administration slashed USAID’s workforce, prompting disgruntled employees to leave with defiant messages on their moving boxes. The move follows a federal judge’s ruling allowing the mass layoffs to proceed.
Key Facts:
- USAID workers leaving their offices carried boxes with defiant messages aimed at former President Donald Trump.
- The layoffs followed a federal judge’s decision to lift a restraining order blocking the cuts.
- Trump’s administration reduced USAID’s workforce from 8,000 to fewer than 300 direct hires and contractors.
- USAID has been criticized for wasteful spending, including funding for a Gaza-based charity and a $20 million Sesame Street show in Iraq.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio was appointed acting USAID director as part of broader reforms.
The Rest of The Story:
USAID employees, many of whom were terminated as part of a major downsizing effort, left their Washington, D.C., offices on Friday, some carrying boxes with messages criticizing the administration.
One read, “We are abandoning the world,” while another said, “You can take the humanitarians out of USAID but you can’t take the humanity out of the humanitarians.”
A small group of well-wishers gathered outside to show support, holding signs like “We love USAID” and “Thank you for your service, USAID.”
Some departing workers were visibly upset, while others appeared cheerful.
The layoffs come after months of legal battles, with unions attempting to block the cuts.
However, a federal judge ruled against them, stating the courts lacked jurisdiction at this stage.
Trump had already imposed a 90-day pause on foreign aid, signaling his intent to overhaul USAID’s structure.
🚨🇺🇸AXED USAID EMPLOYEES LEAVE DC OFFICE WITH MESSAGES FOR TRUMP
Fired USAID employees were seen smiling as they left their D.C. office, carrying boxes with messages aimed at Trump.
One read, "We are abandoning the world," while another stated, "You can take the humanitarians… https://t.co/mZWh76nMFl pic.twitter.com/Iyqgls4qbQ
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) February 22, 2025
Commentary:
These USAID workers’ dramatic exit proves exactly why they were let go in the first place.
Instead of handling the situation with professionalism, they turned their final moments on the job into a political spectacle.
If they spent as much time focusing on their actual work as they did crafting snarky messages, maybe USAID wouldn’t be in this mess.
The agency has long been criticized for waste, mismanagement, and funding questionable projects.
Taxpayers have every right to question why their money was being used to bankroll diversity programs in Serbia or a Sesame Street knockoff in Iraq.
Government bureaucracies like USAID thrive on bloated budgets and a sense of entitlement, and Trump was right to rein them in.
Some of these workers acted like they were personally saving the world, but USAID’s track record suggests otherwise.
Cutting the agency down to a leaner, more accountable operation ensures that foreign aid is spent wisely, not as a bottomless cash fund for pet projects.
The unions’ legal battle was just another example of the bloated bureaucracy trying to protect its own.
Government employees are not entitled to a job for life, and just because something has existed for decades doesn’t mean it should continue unchecked.
The Bottom Line:
Trump’s decision to downsize USAID was long overdue, and the agency’s former employees proved why their removal was justified.
The theatrics of their departure only reinforce the need for reform.
Cutting waste and reducing government bloat benefits taxpayers and ensures aid dollars are used more effectively.
Read Next
– Kash Patel Announces His First Move as FBI Director, It’s HUGE
– DOJ Files Formal Complaint Against Rogue Federal Judge, Serious Misconduct and Bias
– 70 Christians Found Beheaded in Church, Radical Islamic Militants Suspected eir pending dismissals, while a federal judge on Friday cleared the way for the Trump administration to follow through with the mass layoffs as it aims to eliminate waste throughout the federal bureaucracy.
“We are abandoning the world,” read one message on a box being hauled out by a grinning staffer as she walked out of USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs office.
‘WASTEFUL AND DANGEROUS’: DOGE’S TOP FIVE MOST SHOCKING REVELATIONS
Another smiling staffer’s box had a more upbeat tone, with her message reading: “You can take the humanitarians out of USAID but you can’t take the humanity out of the humanitarians.”
The staffers were greeted outside the offices by a small group of well-wishing supporters and former USAID workers who carried signs reading, “We love USAID” and “Thank you for your service, USAID.”
Other workers were seen leaving the offices in tears.
The Trump administration plans to gut the agency and intends to leave fewer than 300 staffers on the job out of the current 8,000 direct hires and contractors.
They, along with an unknown number of 5,000 locally hired international staffers abroad, would run the few life-saving programs that the administration says it intends to keep going for the time being.
USAID has come in for particular criticism under the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for alleged wasteful spending.
For instance, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the Senate DOGE Caucus Chairwoman, recently published a list of projects and programs she says USAID has helped fund over the years, including $20 million to produce a Sesame Street show in Iraq.
Several more examples of questionable spending have been uncovered at USAID, including more than $900,000 to a “Gaza-based terror charity” called Bayader Association for Environment and Development and a $1.5 million program slated to “advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities.”
SECRETARY OF STATE RUBIO CONFIRMS BECOMING ACTING USAID CHIEF
Trump has moved to gut the agency after imposing a 90-day pause on foreign aid. He also has appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the acting director of USAID.
Government employee unions had sued to stop the mass layoffs, but U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols on Friday lifted a temporary restraining order he had issued at the outset of the case and declined to issue a longer-term order keeping the employees in their posts.
Nichols, who was appointed by President Trump during his first term, also wrote that because the affected employees had not gone through an administrative dispute process, he likely did not have jurisdiction to hear the unions’ case or consider their broader arguments that the administration is violating the U.S. Constitution by shutting down an agency created and funded by Congress.
The judge said the issue was jurisdictional, that federal district courts should not be involved at this stage, and that the matter should be handled administratively under federal employment laws.
“The court concludes that plaintiffs have not demonstrated that they or their members will suffer irreparable injury absent an injunction; that their claims are likely to succeed on the merits; or that the balance of the hardships or the public interest strongly favors an injunction.”
The unions can now go to the Washington, D.C., federal appeals court for emergency relief to have the TRO put back into place, or possibly a preliminary injunction.
Fox News’ Bill Mears, Andrew Mark Miller, Aubrie Spady, Deirdre Heavey, Morgan Phillips and Emma Colton as well as Reuters contributed to this report.