USAID official put on administrative leave for scathing memo blaming political appointees for affecting ‘lifesaving’ work

Washington (CNN) — A top official at the US Agency for International Development was put on leave after issuing a scathing memo blaming Trump political appointees for the US government’s inability to conduct lifesaving humanitarian work.

The official warned the Trump appointees’ moves will “no doubt result in preventable death, destabilization, and threats to national security on a massive scale.”

The memo from Nicholas Enrich, the acting administrator for global heath at USAID, details “obstacles” put in place by “political leadership at USAID, the Department of State, and DOGE” that have prevented the agency from implementing waivers for lifesaving assistance. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly claimed he issued such waivers to exempt the assistance from a sweeping foreign aid freeze put in place in late January.

“These actions individually and in combination have resulted in the U.S. Government’s failure to implement critical lifesaving activities,” Enrich wrote in the memo dated February 28 and seen by CNN.

In a separate memo obtained by CNN, Enrich warned a suspension of foreign aid and delays to lifesaving humanitarian assistance could cause surges in diseases like malaria, Ebola and avian flu, which he warned could have dire impacts on the US.

“A failure to contain infectious diseases at their source heightens the risk of transmission to the United States, posing a direct threat to public health and economic stability. The consequences extend beyond human health, impacting American businesses and families by increasing healthcare costs, disrupting international trade, and straining domestic resources,” Enrich said in the 20-page memo, which was linked in the one dated February 28.

He projected there would be an additional 12.5 million to 17.9 million cases of malaria annually and an additional 71,000 to 166,000 deaths, with about 2,000 cases of malaria imported to the US per year.

For highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), Enrich said a “worst-case scenario” could see 775 million cases globally, with 105 million in the US.

“Based on the known impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a HPAI pandemic is likely to cost the US at least $14 trillion,” Enrich warned. “The economic impact of just animal losses from bird flu in 2022 cost the US economy up to $3 billion.”

Enrich also warned that suspending maternal and child health programs could cause tens of millions of pregnant women, newborns and children to lose access to lifesaving care. A suspension of nutrition services could result in 1 million children not being treated annually for severe acute malnutrition, Enrich said.

“Maternal and child health and nutrition foreign assistance makes America stronger by creating greater economic and political stability through improved family health, which increases the likelihood that children will attend school and grow into healthy, productive adults, thereby reducing conflicts, poverty, and radicalization of youth,” he wrote.

The separate memo, “risks to U.S. National Security and Public Health,” was dated March 4. Enrich had not filled out a recipient in the “to” field, but he had CC’d four political appointees at USAID.

Enrich recommended the US government “resume all mechanisms with submitted life-saving waivers to avert crisis-level expenditures, prevent mortality and morbidity, and protect national security.”

“Upholding these programs is not only a legal and humanitarian obligation but also a critical strategic investment to make America safer, more secure, and more prosperous,” he wrote.

In his February 28 memo, Enrich detailed the types of activities impacted by the freeze, along with the actions taken by Trump administration appointees from January 29 through February 28 that blocked lifesaving work from moving forward.

These include “emergency outbreak response activities needed to respond to the Ebola outbreak in Uganda – the first approved global health activities under the waiver.”

“Despite receiving approval to conduct these Ebola response activities approximately 1 month ago, the implementing partners were never able to draw down funds for these life-saving activities, and have not received any funds to date,” Enrich wrote.

The statement directly rebuts a claim made by Elon Musk, who’s leading the Trump administration’s effort to downsize the federal government, that Ebola prevention was “accidentally canceled” but “immediately” restored.

Enrich was put on administrative leave after issuing the memo, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

CNN has reached out to the State Department and USAID for comment.

Among the actions that led to the agency’s “failure” to implement the lifesaving assistance waivers were a refusal to pay for assistance that had been conducted, blocking access to USAID payment systems, “the ever-changing guidance as to what qualifies as ‘lifesaving’ and whose approval is needed in making that decision, and most recently, the sweeping terminations of the most critical implementing mechanisms necessary for providing lifesaving services,” Enrich wrote.

In his February 28 memo, Enrich also noted that “significant staffing changes occurred within” USAID’s Bureau for Global Health “throughout the timeframe in question – including regularly affecting staff by terminating them without warning, turning on and off access to systems, placing and removing staff from administrative leave, etc. – severely limiting the ability to navigate and respond to the shifting guidance and bureaucratic hurdles outlined above.”

More than 90% of USAID’s foreign assistance awards were suddenly terminated last week, including for work that had previously been issued waivers, nearly a dozen officials told CNN. The Trump administration is facing a lawsuit for failing to pay nearly $2 billion for work done before the foreign assistance freeze. That suit is now in front of the Supreme Court.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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