Cnn
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A federal agency that focuses on promoting economic growth in developing countries is effectively closed in the efforts of the Elon Musk government ministry to reduce federal spending, sources told CNN.
On Tuesday, agency employees were informed by e -mail that “there will soon be a significant reduction” of staff and programs – a week after the arrival of DOGE at MCC, according to a source familiar with the question. The source added that employees could be on administrative leave on May 5.
The labor reduction plan is to eliminate all employees, with the exception of its acting CEO, according to the source, because the agency is statically required to have a leader.
CNN contacted MCC and DOGE to comment.
This is the Trump administration and the latest Doge’s attack on American foreign aid. The administration decided to close the American agency for international development and continued the US Institute of Peace and the African Development Foundation, among others. Many of these efforts have faced prosecution.
The MCC, which was created by Congress in 2004, grants “subsidies limited in time” to dozens of developing countries, including Ukraine, Salvador and Nepal, for infrastructure and policies reform.
Similar to cuts in other federal agencies, the source told CNN that MCC employees had offered the possibility of early retirement incentive or a delayed resignation program, in which they will be placed on administrative leave and paid until September 30. Employees have until Tuesday to register for one or the other program, according to two sources.
The first source described the staff of the agency feeling “emptied” after receiving the email, adding: “It is a slap in the face”.
The MCC was considered the American response to the initiative of the belt and the road to China, which also finances infrastructure in developing countries. The United States has long opposed the Chinese initiative and dissuaded countries from participating.
Charles Kenny, a principal researcher of the Center for Global Development, noted that “the Millennium Challenge Corporation is roughly the only piece of the United States government funding the infrastructure of the public sector in developing countries – the kind of thing that the initiative of the belt and the road to China has done, only with subsidies rather than loans.”
However, with the recent major discounts with foreign aid, such as MCC and USAID, criticism say that the United States is giving up influence on countries like China.
