Dozens of contractors working on foreign-assistance funding for the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor were let go on Monday, according to four sources with knowledge of the matter.
Stop-work orders for all foreign-aid contracts went out last week, and contractors at the bureau applied for an exception, according to a person familiar. About 60 contractors who applied for the exception were ultimately denied and let go on Monday morning, which “wiped out” significant programs from the office, the source said.
The bureau, coined DRL, serves as the State Department’s entity to help advance democracy both within the U.S. and across the globe, and help coordinate nations’ human rights policies.