USAid workers to be ‘escorted’ back to collect belongings amid Trump shutdown bid

A USAid worker outside the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance office in Washington, on 21 February. Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Workers at the US Agency for International Development (USAid) have been invited back to its office “to retrieve their personal belongings” as the Trump administration continues its effort to shut down the foreign aid agency.

An email seen by the Guardian described how staff in Washington would be allowed to briefly return on Thursday or Friday of this week. They would be “escorted to their workspace” and granted “approximately 15 minutes” to gather their items, it said.