The American agency director of the American agency for international development and its deputy was put on administrative leave on Saturday after trying to prevent employees from the Government Ministry of Access to Secure Usaid Systems, said Five sources familiar with events at NBC News.
USAID systems to which the DOGE team attempted access to personnel files and security systems, including classified systems beyond the level of security of at least some of the employees of DOGE, according to three of the sources. Systems also included safety clearance information for agency employees, according to two sources.
“No classified equipment has been accessible without appropriate security authorization,” said Katie Miller on Sunday, who worked in Trump’s first administration and has since joined Doge.
When USAID’s security director John Voorhees, and his assistant, Brian McGill, refused to allow them, the employees of the Doge threatened to call the American marshals, said two of the sources. DOGE employees were finally able to access secure systems, according to three sources, but it was not clear what information they could obtain.
Elon Musk, the technological billionaire and the chief of Doge, Sunday on X, posted on Sunday at the USAID “to die” and to accuse the independent agency, without offering evidence, of being a “criminal organization”.
“The reports according to which people without appropriate authorization may have reached classified spaces in the USAID as well as the personal information of American citizens is incredibly serious and unprecedented,” wrote Senator Jeanne Shaheen, DN.H. . “We are looking for immediate answers on all the implications for our national security and bring together a group of Bipartisian senators on this subject as soon as the Senate returns tomorrow.”
Trump administration officials actively discuss the establishment of the USAID under the authority of the State Department, according to more than a dozen current and former officials and familiar sources with the discussions, reported NBC News, a decision that Democrats and legal experts have violated a law adopted by the congress establishing the agency.
The State Department, USAID and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
On Saturday, the agency’s website, USAID.GOV, became dark and apparently remained offline Sunday evening, but a website for USAID on the State.gov home page is active.
More than 1,000 USAID employees and entrepreneurs, including more than 300 people from the Bureau of Global Health and 600 at the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance, have already been dismissed or in accordance with the quasi -total freezing on US world aid ‘Trump the Trump Administration Administration used just over a week ago.
In the latest oblique staff bars, the majority of the office of the 125 people for legislative and public affairs was put on administrative leave late Saturday, according to three sources familiar with the actions, and several members of the agency’s communication staff have been prevented from access to internal systems access to communicate with staff members this week, another source said.
“No one feels safe to go near the Ronald Reagan building”, where USAID has its registered office, said a USAID official at NBC News. “We come that Elon Musk calls us a criminal organization. Our security chief was escorted. We know that we are watched by Doge. »»
