The United States Agency for International Development logo in Virginia, U.S., on Feb. 21, 2023.

WASHINGTON — At least 56 high-ranking officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were placed on administrative leave on Monday. This action followed an investigation into allegations that they attempted to undermine President Trump’s directives.

A current and a former USAID official confirmed the reason for the leave, speaking anonymously out of concern for potential retaliation.

Several hundred Washington-based and other contractors were also dismissed, according to these officials.

This development comes after President Trump issued an executive order last week imposing a 90-day suspension on most U.S. foreign aid distributed through the State Department.

Consequently, thousands of U.S.-funded humanitarian, development, and security programs globally ceased operations or prepared to do so. Lack of funding forced aid organizations to lay off hundreds of employees.

An internal USAID memo, obtained by the Associated Press, stated that the acting administrator, Jason Gray, identified “several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the President’s Executive Orders and the mandate from the American people.”

“As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we complete our analysis of these actions,” Gray wrote in the memo.

While President Trump has enacted numerous executive orders since taking office a week prior, the notice did not specify which orders the employees allegedly violated.

The affected senior officials were seasoned employees with experience across multiple administrations, including President Trump’s, according to the former USAID official.

Before their removal, these officials were working to assist U.S.-funded aid organizations in navigating the funding freeze and seeking waivers to maintain crucial programs. These programs ranged from providing clean water to displaced Sudanese to global bird flu monitoring, the former official noted.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio granted exemptions only to emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt from the foreign aid freeze.

The Trump administration and Republican lawmakers, many of whom are skeptical of foreign aid and advocate for increased contributions from other nations, stated their intention to review each foreign aid program. The goal is to determine alignment with U.S. interests and eliminate programs deemed wasteful or engaging in liberal social engineering.

Politico was the first to report on the USAID officials being placed on leave.