() Nicholas Enrich, acting assistant administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development, was fired after sending a memo about the agency’s failure to implement “lifesaving humanitarian assistance.”

Two USAID sources told that Enrich, in a six-page letter to the entire agency, said Secretary of State Marco tried to unfreeze several pools of funding that he found to be critical aid. Rubio, on Jan.28, issued a temporary waiver to the pause on foreign assistance referenced in Trump’s executive order on “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid,” the memo said.

However, Enrich wrote, Rubio was overruled and ran into bureaucratic hurdles. Political leadership at USAID, the State Department and the Department of Government Efficiency created obstacles to prevent implementation of his waiver, the memo said.

The sources said Enrich was let go shortly after the document was sent out and that they found the timing of this troubling and not coincidental. The prevailing feeling within USAID, the sources said, is that Enrich was let go as retribution. 

USAID funding cut

Notices were sent out en masse last week stating that over 90% of USAID’s contracts for humanitarian and development work around the world were being terminated, per an internal memo obtained by the Associated Press. The Trump administration has outlined plans to cut some $60 billion in funding.

Projects that were closed, according to the AP, include treating tens of thousands of malnourished children in Congo; food assistance in Ethiopia to more than 1 million people; and a program distributing bed nets and medication to prevent malaria in Senegal.

USAID staffers were told last week that Trump administration officials would be firing 1,600 employees and placing all but a fraction of employees on administrative leave, partner The Hill reported.

On Wednesday, USAID employees were given 15 minutes to collect their belongings from their offices.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.