IN AN EXTRAORDINARY STEP, more than 700 U.S. foreign service officers and civil servants have signed on to a dissent cable to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to stop the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and unfreeze foreign aid.

The cable, which was shared with The Bulwark and whose authenticity was confirmed by a second source, argues that the hollowing out of USAID is both strategically and morally wrong and in violation of federal workplace protections.

“We dissent not out of opposition to the administration, but because we have dedicated our lives to making America safer, stronger, and more prosperous,” it reads. “The current trajectory endangers American lives, weakens our global standing, cedes influence to authoritarian competitors, and undermines our economic dominance. We urge a course correction before irreparable damage is done to U.S. leadership, security, and moral authority in the world.”

The names of those who have signed on were not immediately clear, nor was the identity of the original author or authors. Organizers were still collecting signatures as of Wednesday morning. According to one of the sources, the hundreds of signers so far included some who did so anonymously and others who attached their names. Though many were USAID employees, State Department officials and foreign service officers as well as other civil servants had also signed the cable. The list spanned missions overseas and employees based in Washington D.C.

The letter comes as USAID has been largely reduced to rubble. The agency has been moved out of its D.C. office and placed inside the State Department. Thousands of staff have been put on leave. Ten thousand contracts and awards have been terminated. A top official recently penned a series of memos raising concerns that millions of lives were at risk because life-saving aid that was supposed to be given a waiver remained frozen. That official was subsequently put on leave.

With few political options available to keep the agency afloat, USAID backers have turned to the courts. On Wednesday morning, they scored a major victory as the Supreme Court upheld a lower court order forcing Trump administration officials to immediately pay roughly $2 billion for work that contractors had already performed. That decision did not immediately affect future contract payments, though USAID defenders believe that it helped strengthen their argument to revive some currently frozen foreign assistance.

The dissent cable makes several specific demands: That USAID stop being dismantled, that foreign assistance be reinstated, that vital programs resume, that the reduction in force at USAID be halted, and that future workforce decisions abide by established federal protections.

The memo does not go after critics of the agency by name. But it accuses them of launching a “smear campaign based on false and erroneous reports about USAID projects and personnel—claims that fail even the simplest scrutiny and fact-check as false.”

That smear campaign has been largely led by Elon Musk, who has spearheaded the dismantling of USAID, bragging about putting the agency into a “woodchipper” and maligning it as a force of “evil” that has funded liberal projects and regime change across the globe, all while enriching Democratic donors.

“This campaign unjustly vilifies the dedicated U.S. diplomats and patriots working at USAID, who sacrifice their families, health, and lives by serving in difficult conditions, including active war zones, from Afghanistan to Ukraine,” the cable reads.

The letter argues that the actions taken to this point have severely harmed U.S. interests abroad, leaving what it describes as “power vacuums that malign actors are eager to fill” and endangering “American personnel, diplomats, and military forces overseas.”

The cable also notes that, in addition to the geopolitical catastrophe being caused by the dismemberment of USAID, there are also humanitarian disasters.

“The freeze on life-saving aid has already caused irreparable harm and suffering to millions of people around the world. Starving, sick, vulnerable families and children in desperate need of humanitarian assistance are left without critical support,” it reads.

Under State Department regulations, employees who send dissent cables are supposed to be protected from retaliation, and each cable must receive a response from the department’s policy planning staff within thirty to sixty days.

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