Pete the reaper Peter Marocco, a once-relatively-unknown Republican political appointee who cycled through multiple jobs at the Pentagon, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the State Department <https://t.devex.com/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGY2_jXfkgnT2sWyRaW_Ievy4SIyiOwECRzaxsLT0LGperFjzHueAHvK5hDq487qVs2Wbfcam4=>, and USAID during Trump’s first term, has emerged as *the dominant arbiter of who does and doesn’t get U.S. foreign assistance* in the president’s second term. As such, he’s been named in one of the main lawsuits contesting the administration decision to pull thousands of USAID employees from their jobs, and in a recent legal rebuttal, he accused some of those employees of disobeying Trump’s directives <https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POr0sH_bOwKHh5br1NxNDZC6hn6dW2dTmvdQmfuNAicF5FXVjlqlf56pOYAGUuslfV3twFf2jWp5hMs1zsJuVXdqcho11JnzmYRgjWcEBZZjDtdWZ31TNnV5ZUI4Yrvvueu9RBP1mwXja2eX8bKKluuKSIBbCCUVzxdLz6jdkqPLcbzoQuuOxzCsyxN4I8oWLr4UhY8q_X2hONgklRtaRS-PxjVMbFqaH-rlLGe4_UhOy7x3W2EvdUJ9iEzDq2ex62Q==/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGY2_jXfsdrNUfQS96d9cUZk8cvoh474Z1xdKYXrAe-IUrli0zzxGUf1VnGDt6qp1g8BAWwmeY=> to halt and review foreign assistance programs. “The placement of a substantial number of USAID personnel on paid administration leave was the only way to pause operations, faithfully implement the pause, and conduct a full and unimpeded audit of USAID’s operations,” Marocco wrote in response to a lawsuit <https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POp_Hs-eLlqXZ5H-RoYoukth3mwLfJzyDVhSNa7ba6PCCPYejJN2za3DrU4WfPUPXuJKG7dDQNRppdU1yZD3CxdMvYyvS7j9fFArB87ZEos3RA_RmGi7H81HSGvSELkyMQnNe73lswPCV_WvuobduEmS3upW-75VW2kCERYEVqOMav6C1KZnGH4B_FUItD0ax6hPJ0aqMD0NLa4diroeiES42Vt2gQ6YXZSRT463S5sd5qa4j-Bu5rTu3BfvKETkgXw==/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGY2_jXfsdrNUfQS96d9cUZk8cvoh474Z1xdKYXrAe-IUrli0zzxGUf1VnGDt6qp1g8BAWwmeY=> filed by a pair of unions representing USAID staffers. In that lawsuit, the administration *persuaded the judge that it had the right to place thousands of staff on administrative leave* and recall employees stationed overseas. Shortly after that ruling, on Sunday night, USAID began removing nearly everyone left at what was once a 10,000-person agency. Thousands were placed on administrative leave, and more — between 1,600 to 2,000 <https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POlEl9RSRUZlYbrmNpaBWzbOpU-jtGmM6HkyrOSPSBcGVO7GGl8I4qFWggd3VKntba6THtjOofqw6Yd1tq27n6WxaTZcqZcQMxBSNNNgwscMYDFp5otdXRs9YKU6p8s9VJzr70bXMQL6uufY-Na04nj6S7TWvVr-rW0FKn7sGvBciHVHyYpfr91My1Cj58eTh-SFb3d61FatLJeSm_2pPqEUsXoGOm3qdNHCMolYEC9-LtNlW0VS0mqO4_TD7UHrOWg==/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGY2_jXfsdrNUfQS96d9cUZk8cvoh474Z1xdKYXrAe-IUrli0zzxGUf1VnGDt6qp1g8BAWwmeY=> staffers — have been told they will be eliminated entirely <https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POlEl9RSRUZlYbrmNpaBWzbMJpzFzneHJnMsamEK8TfqGir2lhH_3JJaislMDcQ4K2h1VEtJCJoptGbmW0tPrS85zoSGVwbyzebSmkUH2LixhAmt_Un4UYLGvqj7ZG0FIVX6GNpGslWpo_WDs8OIi1ct6S-0RrZF1DrmSPSXMD3Xf0YlkHbPCAkOE9pLUBlXy9XHUd_Ft4PnSEB-wz3QIzUz57uhOKgv4Ic34szY70thn/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGY2_jXfsdrNUfQS96d9cUZk8cvoh474Z1xdKYXrAe-IUrli0zzxGUf1VnGDt6qp1g8BAWwmeY=> . In the recent court filing, *Marocco laid out which staff he expects to survive* the Trump administration’s widespread culling, and which of these *611 employees have been deemed “essential.”* He mentioned staffers in the travel office, stating they were needed to help other USAID employees being recalled to the United States. Also on the list: Those with “subject matter expertise,” including staff from USAID’s regional bureaus; employees overseeing emergency humanitarian, food, and medical assistance, along with information, security, and legal issues; and the agency’s human resources team, even though USAID’s chief human resources officer was previously severed from the agency after refusing to fire more staff <https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POiKRGbNY2OKC42jxnUn9zvrGHbbOZF6LGETvSyhcgS7SeTqThCXS0I29ogkIp9SD9VKq9mpirlnnRUUtoboywjB78OFCXUJVDZjbG_Toju85YK1hAdNb3jxwL6JtgFLJ8aBF4EJPzZ-6u3HO9vILwkaCGlEzUctp6E3maZ_PGrVhRhZBkTrcd7rexjOYDyEoFs_AlGhGYghwFbidZ9MkgX46_txAyDN9S0NSxzstp3sYGrW23r0DhSMiFwTspLQgRw==/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGY2_jXfsdrNUfQS96d9cUZk8cvoh474Z1xdKYXrAe-IUrli0zzxGUf1VnGDt6qp1g8BAWwmeY=> . *Read:* Why are thousands being culled from USAID, and who will be left standing? <https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POr0sH_bOwKHh5br1NxNDZC6hn6dW2dTmvdQmfuNAicF5FXVjlqlf56pOYAGUuslfV3twFf2jWp5hMs1zsJuVXdqcho11JnzmYRgjWcEBZZjDtdWZ31TNnV5ZUI4Yrvvueu9RBP1mwXja2eX8bKKluuKSIBbCCUVzxdLz6jdkqPLcbzoQuuOxzCsyxN4I8oWLr4UhY8q_X2hONgklRtaRS-PxjVMbFqaH-rlLGe4_UhOy2bhmZtDD8BnhUn25r7Zjbg==/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGY2_jXfsdrNUfQS96d9cUZk8cvoh474Z1xdKYXrAe-IUrli0zzxGUf1VnGDt6qp1g8BAWwmeY=>