WASHINGTON (AN) — The U.S. Agency for International Development's website went down in an apparent ideological overhaul as the fate of the agency under the Trump administration seemed increasingly uncertain.
On the USAID website on Saturday, messages said the "site can't be reached" and the server IP address could not be found. U.S. President Donald Trump's aides appeared to be stripping the beleagured agency of its independence and putting it under State Department control while ordering federal agencies' websites to be scrubbed.
The development comes a week the Trump administration froze nearly all U.S. foreign aid for 90 days, sending shock waves around U.N. and other international agencies that lost billions of dollars of funding overnight.
Programs for humanitarian aid overseas ranging from help provided by the U.N. refugee agency to medical research projects and health initiatives overseas suddenly were forced to go dark.
Hundreds of USAID employees and contractors were fired or furloughed over the past week, while dozens of senior leaders were sidelined.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management ordered department and agency heads on Friday to "take down all outward facing media (websites, social media accounts, etc.) that inculcate or promote gender ideology."
This is a developing story and will be updated.
