YouTube Maria Longi
Maria Longi is a senior State Department employee who spent years working for USAID’s Middle East bureau — only to abruptly lose her job after an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal said that her department was not complying with Trump administration goals. Buzzfeed first reported on Longi’s situation; you can read that piece here.
Longi served as the senior deputy assistant administrator of USAID’s Middle East bureau. She oversaw USAID’s development programs in 10 countries and managed the department’s $1.7 billion annual budget. But in June, an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal charged that “career staff at USAID” were ignoring the plight of Christians in the Middle East and were not doing enough to provide aid to Iraqi Christians in particular. The op-ed charged that USAID was ignoring the policies of the Trump administration on this issue. You can read the full op-ed here.
The day after that editorial appeared, Longi was suddenly ordered to leave her job at USAID. USAID has not commented on the reason she was abruptly fired. Longi continues to be on the USAID payroll, but she has been reassigned to another job outside of the agency.
Here’s what you need to know about Maria Longi:
1. Longi Now Works as an Adjunct Professor for the National War College
In July, Longi was reassigned to a new position. Instead of working for USAID, she was given a post as an adjunct professor at the National War College. It is not uncommon for USAID staff to join the War College; however, Longi appears to have done so because she had no choice.
Longi is working on researching counter-terrorism issues. Buzzfeed reports that, by all accounts, she has not complained about her situation and has not tried to draw attention to the fact that she was suddenly, and dramatically, fired from her job on no notice before being reassigned to the War College.
In 2012, Longi earned an M.S. in National Security Strategy in 2012 from the National War College.
2. She Backed a Program Giving Iraqis $106 Million Dollars for Public Services
In 2017, Longi visited Iraq to help launch a new program aimed at improving public services throughout the country. The program handed $106 million dollars to local governments all over Iraq; the money was to be used for addressing the specific needs of people in each area of Iraq.
US diplomats and USAID said at the time that they hoped the fund would lead to a more stable — and eventually more prosperous — Iraq.
Critics of USAID have complained that the agency rejects requests for aid from Iraq’s Christian minority. In the Wall Street Journal op-ed which may have gotten Longi fired, Robert McFarlane and Chris Smith said that USAID had turned down aid requests from Christian groups in the cities of Erbil and Nineveh, without providing any explanation.
3. She Believed That USAID Could Help the US Win Friends and Allies Around the World
USAID, or the US Agency for International Development, is the State Department agency that provides non-military aid to other countries. While she was working for USAID’s Middle East bureau, Longi testified before the House Foreign Affairs committee about the importance of USAID’s work in the Middle East. You can read her full testimony here.
Longi talked about USAID’s role in reducing poverty and violence in Iraq and Syria, as well as in Yemen, Morocco, and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa. She acknowledged the ongoing crises in many of those countries but said USAID was also filling an important role, and winning US allies in the process.
“The programs that USAID implements, with your continuing oversight and support, enhance regional security, resilience, and prosperity – benefits that are directly connected with American national security and prosperity,” Longi said, adding, While the news headlines only focus on the multiple crises, conflicts, and threats in the region, we cannot lose sight of the longer-term U.S. goals that can only be achieved with democratic, inclusive governance and economic opportunity.”
4. Longi Has Worked For The State Department Since 2009
Longi first went to work for the State Department when she landed a job as the Director of the FREEDOM Support Act Division. She was tasked with managing U.S. foreign assistance to Eurasia. From there, she went on to work as the director of management policy and resources for international organizations, before going on to her position at USAID.
But Longi had been working for the US government since 2006, when she went to work for the Millenium Challenge Corporation, an independent US agency that works to provide aid to foreign countries. The Millennium Challenge Corporation says that it is “committed to delivering sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction” to the countries it works with around the world.
5. Longi Has a Chemistry Degree From Northwestern University
Longi has a BS in chemical engineering from Northwestern University; she earned the degree in 1988. She was also a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority while at Northwestern.
Longi later went on to earn a law degree from Northern Kentucky University’s law school. And in 2012, she earned an MS from the National War College.
She became an adjunct professor at the War College in July, after being suddenly fired from her job as the deputy Middle East director of USAID.
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