John Barsa is an American businessman and consultant who formerly served as the United States Agency for International Development Acting Administrator in 2020. The White House requested that he assume the position of USAID Acting Deputy Administrator on November 7,2020,which effectively circumvented the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 and would have required that he step down and leave the administrator's post vacant.
In 2017,Barsa became a member of Donald Trump's presidential transition team. He went on to serve within the Trump administration at DHS as an assistant to then DHS Director John F. Kelly and was subsequently asked to assume the Acting Assistant Secretary post in charge of the DHS Office of Partnership and Engagement. In 2019,Trump nominated Barsa to serve as the United States Agency for International Development assistant administrator in the Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean. He was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate. In this position Barsa strengthened USAID’s democracy efforts in Cuba,Venezuela,and Nicaragua and secured a formal memorandum of understanding on behalf of DHS Customs and Border Protection for information sharing intended to enhance USAID data driven decision making regarding development and the root causes of immigration from Central America.
Barsa was asked by the White House to become USAID Acting Administrator in 2020 after the resignation of Mark Andrew Green.[1] He led the agency through the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and was the first US senior official to travel to Beirut,Lebanon to offer U.S. support after the devastating explosion in August 2020. Under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998,Barsa was required to step down after 210 days in office unless he was officially nominated for the position and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He was not nominated for the role. Instead,on November 6,2020,after losing the election,President Trump fired Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick in order to allow Barsa to assume the position in an acting capacity.
Personal life
Barsa lives in Virginia and has two adult daughters.
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United States Army