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U.S. Agency for International Development workers who've been given 15 minutes to clear out their workspaces as part of the Trump administration’s dismantling of the agency have begun arriving at their Washington headquarters.
A small and somber group of supporters greeted the USAID workers Thursday.
Some staffers were in tears as they hauled out bags and suitcases stuffed with what was left of their life's work.
“I love the work that we do. I really care about it. I felt like we made a difference and see everything disappearing before our eyes in a matter of weeks. It's very scary to me and it's depressing,” Juliane Alfen, a furloughed USAID emplpyee, said.
USAID has been among the biggest targets of a campaign by President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to slash the size of the federal government.
Many USAID workers see the Republican administration’s terms for retrieving their belongings Thursday and Friday as insulting.
Randy Chester, the Vice President of the American Foreign Serivce Association, says the loss has been dramatic.
“Last I heard, there were still about 600 people working for USAID here in the States. That's out of Foreign service and civil service staff of a roughly 3200. So going from between 3000 and 3500 employees to 600 employees in the space of three weeks is pretty dramatic,” Chester said.