Top USAID Official Fired a Day After Criticizing Trump Administration
The USAID watchdog earlier raised alarm over the Trump administration’s foreign aid funding freeze and mass layoffs at the agency.
AFP via Getty Images
The watchdog of the U.S. Agency for International Development was fired a day after releasing a report that criticized the Trump administration’s decision to freeze foreign aid funding and wipe out the humanitarian agency’s staff.
According to CNN, Inspector General Paul Martin was notified via email on Tuesday that he was “terminated, effective immediately.”
Martin informed his staff shortly after receiving the message, NBC News reported. “It has been a true honor and pleasure to walk alongside my OIG [Office of Inspector General] colleagues around the world as we sought to provide independent and aggressive oversight of USAID programs and personnel,” he said.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the USAID Office of Inspector General and the White House for comment.
The termination email came just a day after Martin’s office released a report sounding the alarm on the impact of the Trump administration’s latest moves on humanitarian aid.
Elon Musk, billionaire chief of the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency, earlier gutted about 97 percent of USAID’s global workforce after vowing to shut the agency down.
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The Inspector General’s Office said the widespread staff cuts and uncertainty about the scope of allowable foreign assistance have “degraded USAID’s ability to distribute and safeguard taxpayer-funded humanitarian assistance.”
USAID staff also reported that their counter-terrorism vetting unit, which ensures that “American taxpayer funds do not benefit terrorists and their supporters,” was told in recent days not to report to work due to the layoffs.
“This gap leaves USAID susceptible to inadvertently funding entities or salaries of individuals associated with U.S.-designated terrorist organizations,” the report stated.
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