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this American life. Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Protests are being held today in the

Washington, D.C. area as the Trump administration prepares to put many federal employees on

administrative leave. Today, a large crowd gathered outside the U.S. Capitol to protest billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk's efforts to shut down the United States Agency for International Development.

Here's NPR's Luke Garrett.

Crowds chanted against tech billionaire turned special government employee Elon Musk,

who has called USAID a, quote, ball of worms.

Musk has worked to dismantle the international aid agency with the support of President Donald Trump.

Many at the rally were current USAID or non-profit workers,

but didn't want to give their names publicly,

fearing that they'd be targeted by the

Trump administration.

This is my career.

I've worked in the sector for seven years, and I'm not telling many people yet, but my first

child is due in September, and I want to be able to feed my family.

USAID has announced that all employees are being placed on administrative leave and that overseas personnel are directed to return within 30 days.

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