Connect with us

Politics

USAID employees pack up their desks as Trump administration pushes ahead with slashing agency

Published

7 months ago

on

Federal employees at the U.S. Agency for International Development walked out of agency headquarters for the final time on Thursday, to the cheers and applause of their colleagues.

The USAID workers, some of them in tears, one by one walked out of the building carrying bags and boxes of their belongings. Some were carrying bouquets of flowers. Scores of supporters gathered outside the building. Some brought coffee and food to hand out to the terminated workers.

Kama Garrison, who spent nearly 22 years of her career at USAID, stood outside agency headquarters Thursday morning along with many others showing support for the fired workers.

Garrison had begun a different position with the agency four months ago, which trigged a new probationary period. As a result, she became one of tens of thousands of probationary federal employees governmentwide who have been terminated.

Kama described the rapid dismantling of USAID as “devastating.”

“When you commit your life to a career that you think is for the better of the world, it’s not just an office job where I’m going to get a paycheck. Many of us were Peace Corps volunteers, and then did this as our career,” Garrison told Federal News Network. “It’s like taking a core value and a piece of your identity away from you. To hear the way that our current government speaks about the work we did is really just like an extra knife in the heart.”

Story continues below photo gallery

Supporters of USAID hold signs outside agency headquarters as terminated employees exit the building for the last time. (Photo by Drew Friedman, Federal News Network)

Trump administration officials gave the terminated USAID employees 15-minute windows throughout the day on Thursday to enter the federal headquarters building, pack up their personal belongings and exit the agency for the final time. The schedule for employees to pack up their belongings will continue through Friday.

“Staff MUST bring their own boxes, bags, tape and/or other containers to remove their personal items; these items will not be provided,” administration officials wrote in an email sent to agency staff, obtained by Federal News Network. “Neither USAID, nor any of our assisting agencies, will provide boxes, tape, protective wrapping or other packaging materials to assist with the retrieval process.”

Amanda, a federal employee who agreed to an interview on the condition that her last name was not used out of fear of retribution, was one of many USAID employees whose job was terminated over the weekend.

“It feels very impersonal,” she told Federal News Network outside USAID headquarters on Thursday. “The work that we did was personal and made a lot of inspiring stories and impacted a lot of people. To have this close-out — for lack of a better word — is tragic. It’s gonna be a really rough day.”

Amanda showed up to USAID headquarters Thursday morning alongside many of her colleagues to show support those who were packing up their belongings throughout the day.

“The building is where we met, but the agency is bigger than the building,” she said. “The impact we had is bigger than the building and a couple people deciding that we’re not worthy.”

USAID has been one of the biggest targets of the Trump administration and Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal government. Only a fraction of USAID employees are still in their jobs after the administration’s actions slashing the agency over the past several weeks.

The dismantling of the agency comes after a federal judge allowed the Trump administration to move forward with its plan to terminate thousands of USAID employees. Over the last few days, administration officials notified a majority of USAID employees that they were either on administrative leave or fully terminated. In the space of a few weeks, the agency has been reduced from thousands of employees down to about 600.

The actions at USAID may soon spread further across the federal government. On Wednesday, the White House sent a memo giving agencies two weeks to put together their initial plans for conducting reductions in force (RIFs).

USAID was an early target of DOGE’s steps aiming to cut costs and improve efficiency. Both President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk have said the agency’s programs are a waste of money.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced it would eliminate more than 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance around the world.

Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee this week sent letters to current and former USAID leaders to press for more information on the impacts of slashing USAID. During a hearing Wednesday by the committee’s Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, several Democratic members called the administration’s dismantling of USAID “shortsighted” and a risk to global health.

“Soft power is our way of building diplomacy around the world, and how we build that diplomacy probably looks different in every administration,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) said during the hearing. “But the issue that I have right now is that some would argue that we’ve taken a butcher knife where we need a scalpel. Or others would just say that we are throwing out the baby with the bathwater, but either way, we are not accomplishing our goal.”

Natasha Sakolsky, a public health specialist who has worked for about 30 years at non-profit organizations and federal contractors that partner with USAID, came to the agency’s headquarters Thursday to help send off the employees exiting the building.

“They’ve given their lives to this work, and the way that they’re being treated is cruel. I feel really sad for them,” Sakolsky told Federal News Network. “I felt like this was a last opportunity to recognize what this agency and the people within it have been able to provide to the world.”

One USAID employee who was fired from her job described the agency employees as “American heroes.”

“They did not come to USAID for the money. They didn’t come for the glory,” she told reporters as she exited agency headquarters. “We rightly honor our men and women in uniform. These are heroes who don’t wear uniforms. They are being treated in a manner that nobody should treat their worst enemy — and they’re being treated that way by their own government.”

Many employees also expressed concerns about the impact USAID’s shuttering would have on U.S. development and humanitarian aid and assistance around the globe.

“All the people and all the need doesn’t go away in this moment,” one employee who worked at USAID for 24 years told reporters as she walked out of the building for the last time. “This is a destruction, but we need to rebuild from the ashes. People still need us to be able to respond. So the question is, how are we going to do that? We need this community. We need the strength. We need everybody.”

Kate Parsons, an employee who was terminated from her job at USAID, took a few moments to remove black tape that was covering a USAID sign outside the agency’s headquarters building.

“USAID is still here,” she said. “USAID is not done.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The post USAID employees pack up their desks as Trump administration pushes ahead with slashing agency first appeared on Federal News Network.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Politics

Black Lives Matter Activist in Boston Pleads Guilty to Federal Fraud Charges – Scammed Donors to Fund Her Lifestyle

Published

18 hours ago

on

September 24, 2025

By

Screencap of YouTube video.

A Black Lives Matter activist in Boston named Monica Cannon-Grant pleaded guilty to federal charges this week, admitting that she scammed donors and used their money to fund her own lavish lifestyle.

Cannon-Grant was previously held up as an admired figure. The city of Boston named her the Bostonian of the year at one point for her ‘social justice activism’ and she was even recognized by the Boston Celtics basketball team for her efforts.

She is now facing a minimum of two years in prison.

The New York Post reports:

BLM-linked activist admits conning donors to fund her lavish lifestyle

A once-celebrated Boston social activist has pleaded guilty to defrauding donors — including Black Lives Matter — out of thousands of dollars that she used as a personal piggy bank.

Monica Cannon-Grant, 44, pleaded guilty Monday to 18 counts of fraud-related crimes that she committed with her late husband while operating their Violence in Boston (VIB) activists group, according to the US Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts.

The activist scammed money — including $3,000 from a BLM group — while claiming it was to help feed children and run protests like one in 2020 over the murder of George Floyd and police violence.

Cannon-Grant also conned her way into getting $100,000 in federal pandemic-related unemployment benefits — which she used to pay off her personal auto loan and car insurance policy.

But she has now confessed to transferring funds to personal bank accounts to pay for rent, shopping sprees, delivery meals, visits to a nail salon — and even a summer vacation to Maryland.

Just amazing.

Here’s a local video report:

She should pay back every penny.

The post Black Lives Matter Activist in Boston Pleads Guilty to Federal Fraud Charges – Scammed Donors to Fund Her Lifestyle appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Continue Reading

Politics

Keith Olbermann Backpedals Furiously With Apology for Threatening CNN’s Scott Jennings – Jennings Responds (VIDEO)

Published

18 hours ago

on

September 24, 2025

By

As the Gateway Pundit reported yesterday, former MSNBC host and generally unhinged leftist Keith Olbermann, appeared to threaten CNN’s conservative pundit Scott Jennings on Twitter saying, ‘You’re next motherf**ker.’

Well, Olbermann may have gotten a phone call or a visit from the FBI because today he walked back those comments with a full-throated apology.

RedState has an update:

To quickly recap, Scott Jennings, a Salem Media Network radio host and conservative CNN political commentator, reacted to breaking news on Monday that Kimmel had been reinstated by tweeting, “So basically his employer suspended him for being an insensitive pr**k, and we don’t live in an authoritarian regime? Got it.”

This enraged Olbermann, who proceeded to tweet what many, including Jennings, perceived to be a threat. “You’re next, motherf**ker. But keep mugging to the camera.” Jennings tagged Patel and included a screengrab of the tweets in response.

Though the FBI hasn’t commented as to whether an investigation was launched, Olbermann ostensibly appears to have thought twice about what he tweeted and deleted, apologizing profusely in tweets posted on Tuesday and claiming what he wrote was “misinterpreted”:

See Olbermann’s tweet below:

Scott Jennings, always a class act, offered this hilarious response:

Keith Olbermann really needs help. The guy is just so out of control.

The post Keith Olbermann Backpedals Furiously With Apology for Threatening CNN’s Scott Jennings – Jennings Responds (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Continue Reading

Politics

Where is Lance Twiggs? Kirk Assassin’s Transgender Lover Has Vanished

Published

18 hours ago

on

September 24, 2025

By

Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson and roommate Lance Twiggs

Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson lived with his transgender partner – a male-to-female trans named Lance “Luna” Twiggs.

The FBI used Robinson’s texts with his transgender partner to solidify that Robinson was the assassin. Lance Twiggs has not been charged with any crime; however, federal authorities are still investigating.

Last week, Utah authorities released the text exchange between Tyler Robinson and his transgender lover, Lance Twiggs, sent shortly after Kirk’s assassination.

Utah County District Attorney Jeff Gray announced seven charges against Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson. They will also be seeking the death penalty.

Robinson was charged with:

– Count 1: Aggravated murder (capital offense)
– Count 2: Felony reckless discharge of a firearm causing bodily injury
– Count 3: Felony obstruction of justice for hiding the firearm
– Count 4: Felony obstruction of justice for discarding the clothing he wore during the shooting
– Count 5: Witness tampering for asking roommate to delete incriminating messages
– Count 6: Witness temperating for demanding trans roommate stay silent, and not speak to police
– Count 7: Commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child

Jeff Gray released the chilling texts between Tyler Robinson and his “love” Lance Twiggs.

Read the text exchange here:

Tyler Robinson texts with transgender lover Lance Twiggs / 1
Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson texts with transgender lover Lance Twiggs / 2

Lance Twiggs was reportedly cooperating with the FBI, however, according to the Daily Mail he has seemingly vanished.

“If [Lance Twiggs] ever comes back, it will be in a body bag,” a neighbor said to the Daily Mail. “That’s not a threat – I’m just saying that there are so many people who want a piece of him he’d be mad to show his face in public again. This was a generational event.”

The Daily Mail reported:

The Trans boyfriend of Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin has fled their former lovenest – and locals tell the Daily Mail they never want to see him again.

Lance Twiggs, 22, was led away for questioning when police swooped on the smart three-bed condo he shared with accused gunman Tyler Robinson, 22.

Shaken neighbors say the part time plumber has not been back to the $320,000 property in St. George, Utah – one declaring: ‘Good riddance. I never want to see either of them again.’

His beaten-up Infinity compact is still parked in his space with his work gear tossed across the back seat and a sandwich wrapper and a drink on the front passenger seat.

Upstairs lights have been left on for more than a week and notes and Amazon packages are piling up outside the home owned by Twiggs’s devout Mormon family.

The post Where is Lance Twiggs? Kirk Assassin’s Transgender Lover Has Vanished appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Continue Reading

Trending