USAID flag.Photo:Kevin Dietsch/Getty
Kevin Dietsch/Getty
A USAID worker stationed overseas is suing PresidentDonald Trump’s administration over their shutdown of the humanitarian agency, which he says put his pregnant wife’s life at risk.
The U.S. foreign service officer detailed the perils that he and his wife faced following the “rushed, haphazard” shutdown of USAID amid her pregnancy complications,ABC Newsreported.
In an affidavit, which only identifies the USAID officer as Terry Doe, he chronicles the emotional, financial and logistical barriers that led his wife to a “life-threatening emergency” while stationed overseas.
The embassy’s medical unit and a local doctor recommended that Doe’s wife be medically evacuated from the country, the affidavit continued, but the State Department refused the request twice.
“There is no USAID funding for medivacs,” read the statement from the State Department, in response to Doe’s request.
USAID shutdown protest on Feb. 5, 2025.Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty
Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty
As of Feb. 17, Doe’s wife is still at the local hospital against the recommendations of both the local physician and the embassy.
Doe’s complaint comes weeks afterElon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency pushed to dismantle USAID, moving to freeze funding and lay off thousands of workers. One former senior official of USAID saying on Feb. 6 the staff was reduced from more than 10,000 to just 290.
Sign at a Massachusetts protest against Donald Trump’s policies on Feb. 17, 2025.JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty
JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty
A great number of USAID workers lost their jobs while working overseas, leaving many in uncertain situations.
“We may be totally isolated and left overseas to fend for ourselves,” one American USAID contractor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, previously told PEOPLE.
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The agency had a 64-year history of supporting global health and stability, as well as humanitarian assistance and assistance to women.
“The work I do is bipartisan — I’ve had a lot of congressional support for it in recent years,” another long-term USAID contractor told PEOPLE after the agency was gutted. “The deafening silence from the Republicans in Congress, combined with Secretary Rubio’s desire to actually go forward and paint us as insubordinate is where I feel particularly betrayed.”
source: people.com
