In a brief note posted on the international development agency's website, almost all employees were told they would be put on leave. The note ended with the words, "Thank you for your service."

USAID was the first victim of the Trump administration’s efforts to upend and even destroy the federal bureaucracy. The move to cancel existing contracts, officials say, represents another front in that fight, which is likely to expand across the government and invite additional legal action.

The Trump administration will present an unforgiving argument for dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development to a federal judge

The Trump administration announced earlier this month it was placing most of the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) worldwide staffers on leave. Why it matters: Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has led a swift dismantling of the world's largest humanitarian aid organization over objections from Democrats and NGOs.