The inspector general for the U.S. Agency for International Development was fired on Tuesday, a USAID official said, a day after his office published a report critical of the Trump administration’s effort to eliminate the agency.
Paul Martin had served because the agency’s inspector general, a position requiring U.S. Senate confirmation, since December 2023.
The USAID official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to debate sensitive matters, said Martin was “faraway from his position.”
Martin was informed by an email from Trent Morse, deputy director of the Office of Presidential Personnel. Morse told Martin that his position as USAID inspector general was terminated “effective immediately,” a replica of the e-mail showed.
No reason was provided. The White House didn’t have any comment.
The inspector general’s office on Monday released a report that said the Trump administration’s move to dismantle USAID has crippled its ability to conduct oversight of unspent aid value $8.2 billion.
The report said staff cuts and stop-work orders have made it difficult to make sure taxpayer-funded aid would find yourself within the hands of those intended.
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A whole lot of USAID programs across the globe representing billions of dollars of U.S. assistance got here to a halt after U.S. President Donald Trump on January 20 ordered a freeze on most U.S. foreign aid, saying he wanted to make sure it was aligned together with his “America First” policy.
Trump on Tuesday called USAID “incompetent and corrupt,” as he tasked billionaire Elon Musk with cutting down the agency, which had greater than 10,000 staff at home and overseas before all but just over 600 were placed on leave or fired.
The Trump administration last week took steps to place most of USAID’s workforce on administrative leave, however the move was blocked by a judge on Friday.
In fiscal yr 2023, the US disbursed $72 billion of aid worldwide on initiatives including women’s health in conflict zones, clean water access, HIV/AIDS treatments, energy security and anti-corruption work. It provided 42% of all humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations in 2024.
The funding, lower than 1% of the U.S. federal budget, has historically been justified as instrumental to Washington’s efforts to construct alliances all over the world, reinforce diplomacy and counter the influence of adversaries corresponding to China and Russia within the developing world.
–Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Jasper Ward; Additional reporting by Nandita Bose; Editing by Cynthia Osterman
