265
The inspector general of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Paul Martin, has been fired. A day earlier, his agency published a report criticizing the Trump administration's decision to dismantle USAID, CNN reports.
In a report released Monday, the USAID Inspector General said the Trump administration's cuts to USAID staff and a sweeping freeze on foreign aid have made it difficult to track and respond to potential misuse of $8,2 billion in humanitarian assistance funded by American taxpayers.
The Trump administration has taken aggressive steps in recent weeks to dismantle USAID, seeking to furlough thousands of directly employed USAID employees and fire dozens of contractors who work for the agency. Last Friday, a federal judge temporarily blocked those plans and halted the expedited deportation of employees from countries around the world.
While the inspector general’s report notes that the department has long “identified significant problems and made recommendations to improve the agency’s programs to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse,” it makes clear that the reduction in USAID staff and the freeze on foreign aid have negatively impacted oversight efforts.
The day after the report was published, the Deputy Director of the Office of the President's Personnel notified Paul Martin by email that his appointment as USAID Inspector General had been terminated, effective immediately.
A representative for the USAID Office of Inspector General confirmed Martin's dismissal and said the reason for his dismissal was not specified. By law, the administration is required to notify Congress of the dismissal of an inspector general within 30 days and provide specific reasons for the decision.
Martin has served as inspector general since December 2023. Although Trump fired inspectors general from more than a dozen federal agencies during his first week in office, the USAID oversight body remained in place.
The Inspector General conducts investigations and reviews of any potential misconduct, fraud, waste, or abuse by a government agency or its personnel and issues reports and recommendations.
USAID's Office of Inspector General staff have also been informed that they no longer have access to their physical office space, two sources familiar with the situation told CNN. Although the Trump administration closed the USAID headquarters building in Washington last week, staff at the watchdog's office were still allowed to work in person in the same building until Tuesday.
Recall, Trump signed an executive order to stop aid to other countries. On February 3, USAID officials were sent on leave due to their refusal to provide employees of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with access to confidential data. The main initiator of the liquidation of USAID is called entrepreneur Elon Musk, who heads DOGE. It was he who convinced Trump of the need to stop the agency.
