Bonnie Glick, the deputy administrator of the agency, received a note from the White House on Friday afternoon telling her that she needed to resign by 5 p.m. or she would be terminated without cause at the pleasure of the President, the sources said. One of the sources said the note included a termination letter signed by Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office John McEntee.
Glick did not consider resigning, that source said.
Another source at USAID told CNN they also suspected this could be the case. However, nothing has been communicated to agency personnel about these changes, or who will be leading the agency that oversees America’s international development and humanitarian efforts.
CNN has reached out to USAID and the White House for comment.
Barsa is not well-liked by career officials, the source at USAID said, and people found it odd that he was named acting administrator because they had worked much more closely with Glick, a Republican appointee who was confirmed by the Senate to the deputy administrator role in January 2019.
Prior to her role at USAID, Glick was Deputy Secretary of the Maryland State Department of Aging under Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. She also worked at IBM and as a senior nonprofit executive and began her career as a foreign service officer at the State Department, according to her USAID biography.
Another senior figure in the international aid community spoke highly of Glick, saying, “People in the community have the highest respect for her” and that she “brought real thought leadership to the agency.”
This person and the sources familiar expressed concern that her absence would be felt if there is a transition from a Trump to a Biden presidency.
“Should there be a transition, she will be missed and it will be a loss for USAID,” the senior figure said.
One of the sources familiar also expressed concern that Barsa could bring in ideological appointees with no development background if he remains as leader of the agency.
During Barsa’s tenure, USAID has had a number of controversial political appointees join its ranks.
CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck contributed to this report.