Termination notices sent by Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team to US Agency for International Development (USAID) employees have been riddled with errors, prompting the need for corrected versions to be sent out, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The reported inaccuracies could affect the pensions and severance pay of thousands of federal workers.
According to the report, the errors in the notices were so widespread that USAID workers, many of whom have been placed on paid administrative leave, are now required to send out revised versions to ensure no disruptions to their retirement benefits and pay. An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the notices were rushed through by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), resulting in such mistakes.
“My letter was completely wrong,” one USAID worker reportedly said, adding, “The only thing correct was my name.”
The inaccuracies included wrong termination dates, incorrect service lengths, and erroneous salary information, the report said, adding that the first round of termination notices, which set April 21 as the final employment date for most employees, had already been reset in a second round of notices to July 1 or September 2, depending on the role.
Some workers reported receiving up to three different versions of their termination notices, each containing discrepancies. One worker revealed that the length of their federal service was off by several years between the letters. “I actually have federal service dating to June 2008,” the worker told Reuters, adding, “There doesn’t seem to be any logic to the RIF (reduction in force) process.”
According to the report, the issues with the notices could potentially have serious consequences for employees’ financial futures, especially given a worker’s federal pension is calculated based on their length of service and highest average annual salaries. “We’ve got people who have served for 25 years, and their notices are showing they served for only three,” the US official noted.
Musk, who has been a prominent supporter of Trump’s 2024 election campaign, has been tasked with “reducing waste and fraud” across the US government, a role overseen by the DOGE. According to DOGE’s website, the department claims to have saved American taxpayers $140 billion through actions such as workforce cuts, asset sales, and contract cancellations.
Some of the termination notices also reportedly failed to account for requests from employees seeking waivers to delay their termination, including those who have children in school abroad or need extra time to relocate to the US. “Some people have the wrong dates. Others have the wrong information,” another source told the agency, adding, “These errors need to be fixed before anyone can return home.”
The recent changes at USAID, which have seen the agency’s staffing dramatically reduced and numerous programs terminated, have sparked widespread concern about the impact on global humanitarian aid. Since February, most USAID employees have been placed on administrative leave, and many contractors were let go, with over 5,000 global programs being cancelled, reports suggest.
These termination notices were sent under the supervision of USAID acting administrators Jeremy Lewin and Kenneth Jackson, both of whom are DOGE operatives tasked with overseeing the agency’s dismantling, the report said. They report directly to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom President Trump tapped as acting USAID administrator.
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