Deadline For Federal Workers, Reaction To Trump's Gaza Plan, Future Of US Foreign Aid

0:28Good morning to you. Then I'm responsible if they don't have a good day. Oh. And I got to wait till the end of the day to hear if it was a good day. No, I don't want that kind of pressure, Steve. Okay. Next time I see you, I'm just going to say, dies. Dies.

0:45Federal workers face a deadline today to take an offer to resign. I don't know anybody who's considering taking it who wasn't already planning on retiring. So says an employee at the Labor Department. What's the administration's next move? I mean, Martinez, that's Steve Inskey. And this is Up First from NPR News. When President Trump made a surprise declaration about Gaza, he also promised an announcement about the West Bank. What are people thinking there? Our correspondent is in the West Bank to find out. Also, how is the U.S. competing for influence in the world as the administration tries to shut down a foreign aid agency?

1:20The administration told workers for USAID they should all return from abroad. We just lost the battle. It's not because we were fighting and we lost. We took our troops and we went home. Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day.

2:00That rules Tulsa, meaning only one thing. He must be on to something big. FX's The Lowdown. All new Tuesdays on FX. Stream on Hulu. This message comes from Schwab. Everyone has moments when they could have done better. Same goes for where you invest. Level up and invest smarter with Schwab. Get market insights, education, and human help when you need it. This message comes from Rince, who knows that greatness takes time. So does laundry. So Rince will take your laundry and hand deliver it to your door, expertly cleaned. And you can take the time pursuing your passions. Time once spent sorting and waiting, folding and queuing, now spent challenging and innovating and pushing your way to greatness.

2:45So pick up that Irish flute or those calligraphy pens or the daunting Beef Wellington recipe card and leave the laundry to Rince. Rince. It's time to be great. This is decision day for millions of federal employees who find themselves at a so-called fork in the road. That is the phrase the Trump administration put into an email telling federal workers they can stay or go. Their unions have said it's not really much of a decision, asserting that the offer that looks like a buyout really isn't. NPR labor correspondent Andrew Hsu joins us now. Andrew, can we ballpark how many federal employees have told the administration that they're going to quit?

3:21Yeah, well, last night we were hearing it was more than 40 ,000 or about 2 % of the federal workforce and growing. Now, A, remember this offer to resign by today and still keep your pay and benefits until the end of September? It's gone out to more than 2 million federal employees, including people in the VA and the FDA, the Department of Education, even the CIA. So you can imagine these numbers could climb. But that said, a lot of people seem to be wary. I met a federal employee, David Casserly, at a rally outside the Labor Department. He's worked there for three and a half years. And I asked him if he's considered resigning.

3:55And here's what he said. No, no, never. I don't know anybody who's considering taking it who wasn't already planning on retiring. And I've also heard that people who have been fully remote and can't or don't want to comply with Trump's demand that all federal workers return to the office full time, that they are also considering taking this deal. Okay. Now, for the federal employees who do accept, I mean, what exactly are they agreeing to? Well, it's really hard to answer that with any precision because so many different versions of the deal have been sent out since last week. So the first email that went out nine days ago only said that people who agree to resign now don't have to comply with the return to office orders.

4:33Many people took that to mean they'd still have to work, but they could work from home. But then soon after, the Office of Personnel Management put out an FAQ that said, no, no, no, you're not expected to work at all, and you'll still get paid. And then this week, agencies sent out these sample contract agreements that changed the script again and said, actually, you do have to work through the end of February. And A, you know, these sample agreements also had a lot of legalese that said things like, by accepting the seal, you're waiving your right to any action against the government if things don't go how you expected.

5:04Wow, so it just sounds like there's a lot of things that aren't clear, right, with all this. Now, the offer, though, Andrea, is that even legal? I mean, what could happen to federal employees who actually take it? Well, as mentioned, you know, several unions that represent federal employees have sued saying the offer isn't legal. They've asked a federal court in Boston to halt this whole thing until the government comes up with a policy that is lawful. And there's a hearing today at 1, so we'll know more later today. One thing that the unions have pointed out is that federal agencies are only funded through March 14th.

5:34And there's a law that says agencies can't obligate funds that Congress hasn't yet approved. So unions and attorneys have been warning those who take the offer that there's no guarantee that they'll get the money that's been promised. For the employees who decide to stay, what happens to them? Well, from the start, they've been told their jobs are not guaranteed and there are going to be significant changes. Agencies are going to be downsized. There are going to be layoffs. Everyone has to come into the office. It's really reminiscent of Elon Musk's resignation offer to Twitter employees, which was also titled Fork in the Road.

6:06The message to them back then was, if you stay, you'll need to be extremely hardcore. Here, federal workers have been told we're going to insist on excellence and we expect you to be loyal. But there's a really big difference between this, the government, and Twitter. Federal employees take an oath to be loyal to the U.S. Constitution, not to a particular president or administration. NPR's Andrea Hsu, thanks a lot. You're welcome.

6:36Let's hear what some Palestinians think about the president who mused about their future. Yeah, President Trump surprised allies and enemies alike this week when he called for the United States to take over Gaza. He said he wanted to relocate the nearly two million people there. Trump also promised some kind of announcement about another big Palestinian zone, the West Bank. Which is where we found NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in the city of Ramallah. Welcome back. Hey, good morning. What are you hearing on the West Bank? Yeah, so a lot of people, when I asked them about Trump's comments, started kind of smirking and basically saying, you know, I'll believe it when I see it.

7:11But a few people I talked to did admit that Gaza is in ruins, people there don't have proper living conditions, and that something needs to be done. Here's Ahmed Habib. He's a pharmacist in Ramallah, but he's originally from Gaza. He still has a lot of family there.

7:29He told me, all I care about is if people there have food, have milk, he says. people in Gaza deserve to live. I don't care where Trump wants to put us if they can just have a good life. But other Palestinians out here I talk to point out that Gaza is Palestinian land and that even if they think Trump's plan is not realistic, talk of moving people from that land is very emotional and unsettling. And of course, the conflict over the land is central to the area where you are. You're outside of Gaza. You're in a much larger land area, the West Bank. You have millions of Palestinians there. You have Israelis who have founded settlements there and taken control of large parts of the West Bank.

8:07So what are people thinking and what is actually going on on the ground in the West Bank? Yeah, I mean, you have to remember that the backdrop to all of this right now is that the Israeli military is still conducting a very big operation through many of the cities in the northern part of the West Bank. Israel launched this operation just two days after the ceasefire in Gaza went into effect. And they've said that this one is different from past operations. For example, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that Israeli troops are going to remain in the Janine refugee camp. That's the epicenter of the fighting.

8:37This hasn't happened before. It'd be a big shift in Israeli policy. For months, Palestinians in the West Bank that I've been talking to here have told me that they've been worried that Israel's military focus might soon be moving from Gaza to them and ultimately that Israel might try to take more land here. Well, let's talk about that because Trump mentioned the West Bank as well when he dropped this surprise proposal for the United States to own Gaza, which the administration has walked back to some extent since. He also said that in the next few weeks, he'd be saying something about the West Bank.

9:11People must be wondering what that something is going to be. Yeah. Last night I met Adil Abu Majd. He's a chef in Ramallah. He's originally from Janine, where the Israeli military is focused right now. He left a couple months ago. And he told me he's paying close attention to what Trump is saying.

9:31He said what Trump said about Gaza empowers Israel to do whatever they want, to take the land that they want. And he thinks annexation could be a real possibility here in the West Bank. You know, after Trump was elected last November, several far-right Israeli ministers commented that this might now be the time for Israel to move on West Bank annexation. You know, I should point out that all of this would be illegal under international law. But Trump also appointed key people in his administration who have said that they would support Israeli annexation. So given Trump's Gaza statements and his planned announcement about the West Bank in the future, all of this has people here pretty nervous.

10:08NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in the occupied West Bank. Thanks so much. Thank you.

10:19Let's get a picture of what the United States is no longer doing as the administration tries to shut down a foreign aid agency. Yeah, the Trump administration has put most of the agency's global workforce on administrative leave and frozen the majority of its budget. Elon Musk claimed without evidence that the U.S. Agency for International Development is corrupt or criminal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he wants to make sure the work aligns with the national interest. Until recent days, the U.S. was the largest donor of foreign aid in the world. And Pires, Gabrielle Emanuel covers global health and has some facts to put all this in context.

10:54Good morning. Hi. Okay, so when we say the U.S. has been the largest donor of foreign aid, how much are we talking about? If you look at 2023, total foreign assistance was$66 billion. It reached a lot of people, but it represented less than 1 % of the U.S. budget. OK, so we certainly spend more on other things, but it's$66 billion, which is a lot for foreign aid. What did that mean for certain places like, say, Ukraine, where the United States has paid so much attention? Yes. So Ukraine is among the top recipients of U.S. aid. It goes to things like rebuilding infrastructure after it's attacked by Russia or seeds and fertilizer to build up the agriculture sector to get more exports.

11:39The Trump administration has issued some narrow waivers, but most things have stopped. For example, NPR's Ukraine Bureau has confirmed disruptions in the delivery of HIV AIDS medications. And I want to figure out where the U.S. interest lies. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, listen, I want foreign aid to be in the U.S. national interest and not charity. At the same time, Rubio acknowledged sometimes foreign aid is in the U.S. national interest. So why does the United States traditionally provide this type of assistance? So part of the thinking is helping people creates goodwill. And it gives the U.S.

12:16greater influence in the world by stabilizing countries so they don't turn to America's adversaries for support. I spoke with Andrew Natsios. He's the former director of USAID under President George W. Bush, a self-described conservative Republican. He says halting foreign aid is happening at a precarious moment as the U.S. competes with Russia, China, Iran for influence. We just lost the battle. It's not because we were fighting and we lost. We took our troops and we went home. That's what we did. Now, he agrees with Trump that government spending is at crisis levels and he does not think every foreign aid program is perfect.

12:58But he says cutting all of USAID is cutting muscle, not fat. I suppose we should pause to say that there are members of Congress who assert that all of this is illegal. Congress has devoted the funding to USAID and created this agency and that its work is supposed to go ahead. But we are told that everybody at USAID has been told to come home. So how is this playing out on the ground? Yes. Well, U.S. assistance goes to a lot of things, but particularly health, helping control disease outbreaks, for example. So if we look at Uganda, it is dealing with an Ebola outbreak right now. The World Health Organization told me typically the U.S.

13:36would be funding technical support, like transportation of highly contagious Ebola samples and screening at airports to make sure no one is carrying the virus across borders. But this time that U.S. funding has stopped. Ah, trying to make sure it doesn't cross borders. And you can see the U.S. national interest there, I suppose. NPR's Gabrielle Emanuel covers global health. Thanks so much. Really appreciate it. Thank you.

14:04And that's Up First for this Thursday, February 6th. I'm Steve Inskeep. And I'm me, Martinez. Don't forget you can listen to this podcast sponsor-free while financially supporting public media with Up First Plus. Learn more at plus.npr.org. That's P-L-U-S dot N-P-R dot org. Today's Up First was edited by Emily Kopp, Nishant Dehia, Rebecca Davis, Jenea Williams and Ali Schweitzer. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hines, and our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow.

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