USAID places global staff on leave as part of Trump's purge

The agency said in a statement on its website that the staff leave will begin shortly before midnight on February 7 and will concern "all USAID direct hire personnel... with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs."

"Thank you for your service," the statement read.

The move is part of Trump's -- and his billionaire ally Elon Musk's -- radical drive to shrink the US government, which has shocked Washington and caused angry protests from Democrats and the human rights community.

The aid arm of US foreign policy, USAID funds health and emergency programs in around 120 countries, including the world's poorest regions.

It is seen as a vital source of soft power for the United States in its struggle for influence with rivals including China, where Musk has extensive business interests.

Musk has called USAID "a viper's nest of radical-left marxists who hate America" and has vowed to shut it down.

Among other criticisms, which Musk has not substantiated, he claims USAID does "rogue CIA work" and even "funded bioweapon research, including Covid-19, that killed millions of people."

The SpaceX and Tesla CEO -- who has massive contracts with the US government and was the biggest financial backer of Trump's campaign -- said he had personally cleared the unprecedented move with the president.

The assault on USAID comes in the context of long-running narratives on the hard-line conservative and libertarian wings of the Republican Party that the United States wastes money on foreigners while ignoring Americans.

The agency describes itself as working "to end extreme poverty and promote resilient, democratic societies while advancing our security and prosperity."

Its budget of more than $40 billion is a small drop in the US government's overall annual spending of nearly $7 trillion.