WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — People in the D.C. area are upset over the dismantling of USAID, the foreign assistance agency, led by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
It’s leaving federal contractors in the area out of work.
Those impacted include people who work for nonprofits and non-government organizations in a long list of humanitarian efforts, including feeding and educating children, fighting disease and clearing landmines.
Two workers who spoke with DC News Now described the situation as two-fold: they are simultaneously trying to figure out the next steps in finding employment, paying bills and affording housing, while also sharing their frustration with the dismantling of an industry they are passionate about.
That frustration has led to protests outside the USAID Headquarters on 14th St. in Northwest.
Mary-Courtney Murphy, who lost her job as a USAID contractor on Wednesday, described the fallout as “massive.”
“It’s so scary. It’s so cruel,” she said.
Meanwhile, the president praised Musk for his hand in the efforts, alleging Musk has found “fraud” in USAID.
Murphy said she plans to move back with her parents in Florida because she is unable to afford to live in the District without her employment.
“I have to go back to my parents and start over, do something new again, which is not what I expected at this stage in my life,” she said. “We’re all looking for jobs for an industry that doesn’t exist anymore.”
While Murphy navigates that, she shared her fear for what could happen to those groups abroad she and others have been assisting.
“We were working with advocacy rights people, journalists, political prisoners, and we just left them,” she said. “These are really hard contacts. These are complex. These are people who are going to die, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Meanwhile, Catherine Baker, who worked in areas of conflict prevention as a USAID contractor, said the situation was “rather traumatic, honestly.”
“It’s an immediate loss of income,” she said. “I’ve been in this career for 13 years. I’ve never been unemployed. And so it’s that lack of economic security, which I’ve worked very hard to have. So many of us have.”
Baker also shared Murphy’s concern about finding a job opportunity in an industry that has been “wiped away in three weeks.”
Her other concern was the criticism that has been widespread about USAID workers and contractors.
“The amount of misinformation, the vitriol, the accused criminality and fraudulent behavior — that’s extremely, hurtful, disparaging,” she said.
