Trump Fires USAID Watchdog Day After Report Criticized Gutting of the Agency

The inspector general for the U.S. Agency for International Development was terminated Tuesday evening without explanation a day after his office criticized President Donald Trump’s attempts to dismantle the agency.

USAID IG Paul Martin was let go after his office said in a report that Trump’s cuts had “degraded USAID’s ability to distribute and safeguard taxpayer-funded humanitarian assistance.” According to CNN, Martin – who had served in his position since 2018 – was fired Tuesday evening:

Paul Martin was informed by an email from the deputy director of the Office of Presidential Personnel Tuesday evening that his position as inspector general of USAID was “terminated, effective immediately.”

A spokesperson for the USAID Office of Inspector General confirmed Martin’s termination and said no reason was given for his ouster.

In a Monday report, Martin’s office stated:

While USAID OIG has previously identified gaps in the scope of partner vetting, 10 USAID staff have reported that the counter-terrorism vetting unit supporting humanitarian assistance programming has in recent days been told not to report to work (because staff have been furloughed or placed on administrative leave) and thus cannot conduct any partner vetting.

This gap leaves USAID susceptible to inadvertently funding entities or salaries of individuals associated with U.S.-designated terrorist organizations.

The report added, “Recent widespread staffing reductions across the Agency … coupled with uncertainty about the scope of foreign assistance waivers and permissible communications with implementers, has degraded USAID’s ability to distribute and safeguard taxpayer-funded humanitarian assistance.”

USAID has come under fire in recent weeks since Elon Musk and a group of tech engineers began pouring through the agency’s records. Employees were locked out of their USAID computers last week.  Meanwhile, Trump is attempting to fire thousands of staffers.