She had crammed the tangible remains of a career of three and a half years in the government service into two nylon bag bags.
Shoes. A heart-shaped drawer for sweets that she used to take to colleagues in the HR department. And a nameplate that gave her boss her.
Now, after she had swept her nose with a tissue outside the besieged USAID, the suddenly retired employee did not need the business shoes stored in the desk, cleaned up on Thursday.
“Well, we commute in it and you wear comfortable, and then you have to look professional, right?” said a resignation of the federal employee who did not want her name to be used for fear that it would jeopardize forced retirement.
Dressed in a raincoat on a Drizzly day, she called the scene 'devastating'.
“There are some real families and lives that are disturbed by this, and it didn't have to be that way.” A passerby came by to give her a hug.
Her friend, who worked in the same department, also knew her desk, but had less to show for her 30-year career in the government, plus a stay in the army.
She only carried out two items: a full roll of paper towel and a price. “That was awarded to my center for their service in December 2024,” she told Dailymail.com when a stream of employees brought their possessions outside the former office building in the center of DC. It was a 'Team Award' for 'Excellence'.
Two USAID employees who have cleaned up their desks of shoes, prices and cleaning items on Thursday, reflected at the desk at the end of their term of office. “There are some real families and lives that are disturbed by this,” one of them said
“I was not going to retire for another two years,” she said, and is now looking for work at the Department of Homeland Security. “That is a law enforcement agency. They rent, “she said.
But she likes where she says that her former employer was -even when the Trump administration made it the first target in the Doge effort to root the 'waste, fraud and abuse'.
'Goodwill, helping people around the world – all over the world – who have little to by no means, right? Hungered, unable to go to the doctor. Just to support them, you work together with them in one way or another. I think USAID was a very unique desk. Compassion is a lot with the mission. '
While employees dragged bags and luggage outside the building, many were greeted with applause from former colleagues and supporters who waited outside in an organized protest, while the dismissals forced administrative leave and guidelines to leave the building.
Some received only 15 minutes of cancellation period to tidy up their things. A table offered Hershey's pillow, coffee and American flags. A cardboard sign said: 'Wreck USAID = hurt us'
Another employee who cleaned up his belongings smoked how the dismissals are being carried out – in the midst of Doge's efforts to defeat President Trump's workforce and plan to find up to $ 1 trillion in savings.
He was wearing a bloated photo of his workspace from South Sudan, a region that has experienced years of conflicts.
His work for the government and contractors has a personal risk. “I was almost killed for USAID,” he said.
Asked by DailyMail.com for his close calls, he described one evening in 2008 held in Kahartoum. He was evacuated from South Sudan during the First Civil War. When in 2016 while working for USAID, he was evacuated during the beginning of the Second Civil War in the midst of 'massive street fights
“At that time, a number of USAID partners were brutally attacked,” he said, describing himself as “incredibly angry.”
Some workers throw tears on the street because they briefly got back in the building to collect assets one last time.
Employees of USAID are locked up from the head office for weeks after the Trump government has dramatically concluded the Congress Agency by the Doge van Elon Musk and has locked employees.
A note circled by USAID on Tuesday told employees that they would get the chance 'this Thursday and Friday only' to collect their possessions from the office.
Employees had to be guided to their workplaces to collect their personal belongings.
The employees only received 15 minutes of time slots to fully pack their desks and to finish everything they intended to take with you.
Exprained USAID employees were seen with boxes and bags with personal belongings after they had only received 15 minutes to pick up their personal belongings at the USAID headquarters on Thursday
While employees showed up in the building, they were greeted by a group of protesters who stood outside with signs of support.
Some signs thanked the employees of the agency for their service and called them heroes, while others praised usaid for his work around the world.
There was also a set -up so that the staff members could get coffee and donuts when they showed up to grab their items frantically in the midst of the uncertainty Washington, because the administration wants to make serious cuts in the federal workforce.
USAID has been one of the top goals of the Doge efforts to lower the expenses, since Trump and Musk have claimed that it is out of line with the Republican agenda.
The administration said this week that, according to the Associated Press, it eliminates more than 90 percent of USAID contracts and $ 60 billion in general American help around the world.
Proponents were seen to cuddle employees while the tears flowed freely and employees performed shopping bags full of personal belongings.
While employees left the building with their things, the crowd would hit their support.
Former USAID employees showed up to pick up those who were back in the head office to pick up their possessions on 27 February
A USAID employee hugs her cousin after employees have cleared their desks in Washington, DC
A crowd of people gathered outside the Ronald Reagan building to 'clap' USAID employees who showed up to pick up their possessions
A USAID worker who held flowers that was given to her when she popped up to pick up her personal belongings at the head office on 27 February
Among those who came out of support from USAID employees when they left the building, the former manager Samantha Power was.
Power led the agency during the BIDEN administration and has been a fierce defender of her work, because the Trump administration closed its doors and raised accusations of waste and abuse.
The efforts to beat foreign help and dismantle congress-made agencies have taken up legal challenges.
Former USAID manager Samantha Power hugs a person outside of USAID headquarters on 27 February
At the end of Wednesday, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked an order that the Trump government gave a deadline to release billions of dollars of foreign help this week.
Chief judge John Roberts said that the break will remain in force until the highest court in the country can weigh more fully.
It occurred on the deadline of 11:59 pm on Wednesday evening imposed by district judge Amir Ali.
Roberts asked the claimants who are organizations who have a contract with or receive subsidies from USAID and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to respond on Friday.
