The US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) director of security and his deputy were placed on administrative leave Saturday after they tried to prevent employees from the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing secure USAID systems, five sources familiar with the events told NBC News, the latter reports.

The USAID systems the DOGE team tried to access included personnel files and security systems, including classified systems beyond the security level of at least some of the DOGE employees, according to three of the sources. The systems also included security clearance information for agency employees, two of the sources said.

The DOGE employees were eventually able to gain access to the secure systems, according to three of the sources, but it was not clear what information they were able to obtain.

More than 1,000 USAID employees and contractors have already been fired or furloughed in the wake of the near-total freeze on US global assistance President Donald Trump’s administration implemented just over a week ago.

In the latest slashes to staff, the majority of the 125-person Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs was put on administrative leave late Saturday, according to three sources directly familiar with the actions, and several of the agency’s communications staff members were blocked from accessing internal systems to communicate with staffers this week, another source said.