Two senior security officials at the US Agency for International Development (USAid) have been put on administrative leave after they blocked efforts by members of Elon Musk’s department of government efficiency (Doge) to access sensitive data from the agency, five current and former USAid officials have told the Guardian.
The demands led to a tense standoff during which a senior deputy to Musk threatened to call the US marshals in to grant access to the building. The officials said John Voorhees, USAid’s director of security, and a deputy blocked efforts by Doge members to physically access restricted areas.
The confrontation and Voorhees’ suspension was first reported by CNN and confirmed by USAid officials. The Doge officials gained control over the access control system, which would allow them to lock out employees and read emails. They also sought personnel files and turnstile data, two people said.
Musk’s deputies may also have sought access to Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities, or SCIFs, and servers used to access sensitive cables with top-secret classifications. Four members of Doge have been granted regular access to USAid as the administration has suspended dozens of senior staff and furloughed hundreds more at the bureau for humanitarian assistance who help the agency respond to urgent crises around the world.
Katie Miller, who serves on the advisory board for Doge and is married to Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, wrote on X that “no classified material was accessed without proper security clearances”, following an AP report that Doge officials did manage to access the materials, which included intelligence reports.
The Doge crew lacked high enough security clearance to access that information, the newswire reported.
USAid continued to abruptly suspend career staffers through Sunday, with the majority of staff in the legislative and public affairs bureaux cut off from their email. More than 100 career staffers at USAid have now been put on administrative leave, according to reports confirmed to the Guardian by one current and one former USAid official.
“We’re literally coming to work each day waiting to get the email that we’re supposed to go,” said one current USAid official who has not been suspended. “It is very much a terror feeling in that building right now.”
- NACZ contributing to arts teaching in schools
- MIHR petitions govt on Lubimbi relocations
- Rising boxer Danzwa braces for biggest fight in her career
- Boustead Beef seeks to end CSC corporate rescue
Keep Reading
USAid is the world’s largest single donor. In fiscal year 2023, the US disbursed $72bn of assistance worldwide on everything from women’s health in conflict zones to access to clean water, HIV/Aids treatments, energy security and anti-corruption work. It provided 42% of all humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations in 2024.
Trump has ordered a global freeze on most US foreign aid as part of his “America First” policy which is already sending shock waves around the world. Field hospitals in Thai refugee camps, landmine clearance in war zones, and drugs to treat millions suffering from diseases such as HIV are among the programs at risk of elimination.
Musk has said that USAid should be shut down as the Trump administration is said to be mulling various strategies to downsize the agency or potentially fold it into the state department. CBS News reported that JD Vance has been put in charge of figuring out next steps for USAid.
“USAID is a criminal organization,” Musk wrote on X, the social network that he owns. “Time for it to die.” In another post, he referred to the agency in the past tense, saying it “was a viper’s nest of radical left-marxists who hate America”.
In a social media discussion on X early on Monday, he said he was working to shut down the agency. “It’s beyond repair,” Musk said, adding that Trump agreed it should be shut down.
Musk formed Doge with the stated goal of finding ways to reduce the federal workforce and slash regulations.
After the confrontation, Matt Hopson, USAid’s new chief of staff, resigned from his position, according to two of the officials. Hopson was one of eight Trump administration political appointees who have taken over the leadership of USAid and have sequestered themselves at the agency’s headquarters at the Ronald Reagan Building. They have rarely interacted with career staff. Hopson’s resignation was first reported by Reuters.
