For Immediate Release
July 1, 2025
Contact: Communications Director Nikki Gamer | Cell #: (978) 884-0003 | gamer@afsa.org

Washington, D.C. – Today marks the first of two mass layoff dates tied to the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). AFSA stands firmly with USAID staff who have been unjustly cast aside by their own government, and we reject the closure of one of America’s most powerful instruments of global leadership and soft power.

As we have argued in our lawsuit challenging the legality of USAID’s dismantling, this move demonstrates a blatant and callous disregard for the dedication, expertise, and humanity of USAID staff—including Foreign Service members who have devoted their lives to serving the American people and advancing U.S. interests abroad. Rather than engage in constructive conversations to lessen the devastating impact of these layoffs, the administration chose instead to inflict maximum pain and hardship through a barrage of questionable—and likely illegal—policies, accompanied by dismissive and dehumanizing rhetoric, all delivered with little thought to implementation or human consequences.

The scope of expertise being discarded is staggering. This decision tosses aside decades of hard-earned knowledge and first-hand experience in democracy promotion, human rights, agriculture, public health, education, economic development, and humanitarian response -- the very skills that have kept millions alive and strengthened American security and prosperity. It is a cruel abandonment of professionals who have safeguarded U.S. interests abroad and supported the world’s most vulnerable populations.

As reported in the news media, this closure will condemn millions to death by starvation or preventable diseases, many of them children. Meanwhile, lifesaving food and medicine sit unused in U.S. warehouses, left to rot because the infrastructure needed to deliver them has been deliberately dismantled.

The actions of this administration will haunt our country far longer than any of us can foresee. The trust of allies and communities will take decades to rebuild—if it can ever be restored. This is not simply a policy failure; it is an open wound in American diplomacy that may never heal.

AFSA will always stand by our USAID colleagues, honoring their service and celebrating the contributions they have made to U.S. foreign policy since 1961. And we will continue this fight in court and beyond for an America that stands up for its apolitical public servants—and keeps its promises to the world.

The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) is the professional association and labor union of the men and women of the United States Foreign Service.