White House fires USAID inspector general after he released critical report

Donald Trump’s administration will head to court on Wednesday as it moves to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), one day after the White House fired the inspector general for the agency.

Paul Martin, the inspector general whose dismissal was first reported by CNN, had issued a report on Monday warning that the Trump administration’s freeze on all foreign assistance and moves to cut USAID staff had left oversight of the humanitarian aid “largely nonoperational,” making it impossible to monitor $8.2 billion US in unspent humanitarian funds.

Inspectors general are typically independently funded watchdogs attached to government agencies and tasked with rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. Martin is at least the 18th inspector general fired already by the Trump administration — several joined a lawsuit Wednesday suing for reinstatement  — even as it pledges to rid the government of excess spending in a transparent fashion.

The administration’s abrupt foreign aid freeze is also forcing mass layoffs by U.S. suppliers and contractors for USAID, including 750 furloughs at one company, according to Washington-based Chemonics International, who sued the government on Tuesday. An organization representing 170 small U.S. businesses and the American Bar Association were among the groups joining that legal challenge.

For Chemonics, one of the larger USAID partners, the funding freeze has meant $103 million in unpaid invoices and almost $500 million in USAID-ordered medication, food and other goods stalled in the supply chain or ports, the lawsuit says.

Not delivering the health commodities “on time could potentially lead to as many as 566,000 deaths from HIV/AIDS, malaria, and unmet reproductive health needs, including 215,000 pediatric deaths,” the lawsuit says.

Musk defends approach

Trump’s most powerful adviser, the billionaire Elon Musk, made a rare public appearance at the White House on Tuesday to defend the swift and extensive cuts he’s pushing across the federal government while acknowledging there have been mistakes and will be more. 

USAID has been an early target of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which despite its title is not a full-fledged federal department. Democrats have argued that Musk, with multiple businesses subject to regulation, is rife with conflicts of interest and that his team has not received security clearances, even as it has apparently accessed data from the Treasury.

Musk said the government wasn’t getting “bang for the buck” in most cases with USAID programs and initiatives. He accused USAID of influencing foreign elections “that were dubious,” without providing evidence to support his claim.

He also claimed that DOGE’s work was being shared on its website and on X, the social media platform owned by Musk. However, the DOGE website has no information, and the postings on X often lack many details, including which programs are being cut and the extent of the organization’s access.

In response to a question about false statements that the U.S. was spending $50 million US on condoms for Gaza, Musk acknowledged some of the claims he’s made about government programs have been wrong.

“Some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected. So nobody can bat 1,000,” he said. 

Trump called USAID “corrupt” and “incompetent.” He signed an executive order on Tuesday directing federal agencies to “co-ordinate and consult” with DOGE to cut jobs and limit hiring, according to a summary provided by the White House.

“The people voted for major government reform. There should be no doubt about that,” said Musk. “That was on the campaign, the president spoke about that at every rally.”

Government to accuse staff of ‘insubordination’ in court

The American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees argue in another lawsuit that Trump lacks the authority to shut down the agency without approval from Congress. 

Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols will hear Wednesday from those two federal workers’ groups as well as the administration. 

The groups suing argue that the administration’s breakup of USAID has been unnecessarily cruel to its thousands of workers and devastating for people around the world who are being cut off from clean water, life-saving medical care, education, training and more.

“This is a full-scale gutting of virtually all the personnel of an entire agency,” Karla Gilbride, attorney for the employee associations, told the judge last week.

Nichols agreed last week to block an order giving thousands of overseas USAID workers who were being placed on administrative leave 30 days to move back to the U.S. on government expense. He cited statements from agency employees who had no home to go to in the U.S. after decades abroad, who faced pulling children with special needs out of school mid-year and other difficulties.

In an affidavit ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, Pete Marocco, a returning USAID political appointee from Trump’s first term, presents without evidence a description of agency workers stalling and resisting the administration’s orders to abruptly cut off funds for programs worldwide and subject each one to a rigorous review.

In the face of “deceit,” “noncompliance” and “insubordination,” USAID’s new leaders “ultimately determined that the placement of a substantial number of USAID personnel on paid administrative leave was the only way to faithfully implement the pause and conduct a full and unimpeded audit of USAID’s operations and programs,” Marocco states.

USAID staffers deny insubordination and call the accusation a pretext to break up the more than 60-year-old agency. 

‘It’s too easy to vilify us’

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former Republican director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), told Reuters that the agencies Musk and Trump have targeted to date account for a tiny fraction of the overall federal budget, which is projected to reach $7 trillion this fiscal year, according to the CBO.

“They are not going to go into agencies that are doing things they like. They are going into agencies they disagree with,” said Holtz-Eakin.

Hundreds of people gathered for a rally on Tuesday across the street from the U.S. Capitol in support of federal workers.

Janet Connelly, a graphic designer with the Department of Energy, said she’s fed up with emails from the Office of Personnel Management encouraging people to take the deferred resignation program.

Connelly said she thinks of her work as trying to do an important service for the American public.

“It’s too easy to vilify us,” she said.