Catholic Relief Services, the Baltimore-based global humanitarian aid organization, appears to be bracing for major cuts tied to the Trump administration’s shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The nonprofit organization joins other religious and secular groups headquartered in Baltimore that expect to be heavily affected by controversial slashing being carried out by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Catholic Relief Services may be among the most heavily affected USAID-funded organizations in Baltimore. It has 7,000 workers around the world and more than 420 in the U.S., many at the Lexington Street location in downtown Baltimore.

The nonprofit’s budget was $1.5 billion in 2023, according to the group’s most recent financial statement. That year it received more than $521 million in U.S. grants and agreements, the financial statement notes, a category that likely includes USAID.

According to an accounting by Forbes, Catholic Relief Services is USAID’s top recipient for fiscal years 2013 to 2022, taking $4.6 billion in funding.

Officials there have not responded to requests for comment, but they posted a plea online for the public to tell Congress to save foreign aid.

Catholic Relief Services has not alerted state labor officials that it plans to cut a large number of positions, according to Maryland’s online reporting system. But the independent news site National Catholic Reporter wrote Wednesday that layoffs had already begun, and that there could be deep cuts to jobs and spending.

Illustrating the swiftness of the DOGE cuts and the confusion that has followed, Catholic Relief Services posted job openings on LinkedIn, including remote and Baltimore-based positions, as recently as two days ago. An ad announcing open positions, ranging from a project manager to a financial analyst, also offered full sponsorships for foreigners.

Democratic lawmakers and international development experts argue that eliminating USAID, which takes up less than 1% of the federal budget, is a massive blow to human health across the world and a major health and security risk to Americans.

The funding helps contain disease outbreaks before they reach the U.S., for example. It also develops important allies and staves off the county’s adversaries, advocates say.