Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) weakened the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and took a team of more than 10,000 to just under 300, according to an internal email posted by Wired and several current USAID – employees have been seen.

The move leaves only 12 people in the Agency’s African Bureau and eight people in the Bureau in Asia, with about 290 in general. Some extra foreign workers will be retained, two USAID employees will be wired, but it is unclear how many.

“There are more poor people in Asia than anywhere else, and our presence has always contributed to opposing China’s influence,” says one USAID employee, who has gained anonymity because of the fear of retaliation and because they do not is authorized to publicly over the agency.

On Tuesday, USAID workers received an email pointing out that all staff would take place on an administrative leave from Friday, 7 February, with the exception of ‘designated staff responsible for mission-critical functions’. The notice was published on the agency’s website shortly thereafter. It also specified that the workers of the agency stationed abroad would be called back to the United States.

USAID and the US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It wasn’t an unexpected step. USAID was a special target in Musk’s cross chairs, with the Centibillionaire calling it a ‘criminal organization’ on X and boasting ‘feeding it through a woodcutter’.

Do you have a tip?

Are you a current or former government worker with insight into what’s going on? We would like to hear from you. Using a non -work telephone or computer, contact the reporter safely using a personal device on signal at cat nibs.09.

President Donald Trump was hostile to the agency in the same way. One of his first action after taking office last month was to sign an executive order to freeze foreign aid, many of which are implemented by USAID. The change already has a rise counter-human trade on work, including projects that help people escape from labor connections where they are addicted and forced to commit digital fraud, Wired Wednesday reports Wednesday.

Although the administration then made clear that ‘life -saving’ work would be allowed to continue under an emergency evidence program, the chaotic takeover of the agency made it impossible in practice. As Wired reported on Monday, important HIV/AIDS work was disrupted, with workers on the ground in countries such as Haiti who could not access antiretroviral medication – even though much of the work technically received a waiver.

Meanwhile, some current employees abroad should not be informed about the latest changes of the agency. “The only official communication I received is from the local facilities of the local embassy, ​​asking if or when we are moving so they could renovate our homes,” says one USAID worker stationed overseas.