United States Department of State Halts Foreign Aid
Elizabeth Denton
Staff Writer
On January 20, United States President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order to put foreign aid on hold for a 90-day review. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a cable to all United States diplomatic posts outlining the hold, which threatens billions of dollars of funding from the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The cable calls for all existing foreign assistance to provide nothing more than life-saving aid and pauses any new assistance. According to CNN, InterAction, an alliance of international nongovernmental organizations, has shown disproval for the freeze, believing it interrupts critical work such as clean water, basic education, ending trafficking, and providing medication. CNN also reports that the International AIDS Society warns that HIV will resurge without U.S. assistance, placing millions of lives in jeopardy. The halt is expected to end after 85 days when a full review of foreign aid spending has been completed.
The U.S. State Department signed a waiver defining life-saving assistance as medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance, also including the supplies and reasonable administrative costs as necessary to deliver the life-saving assistance. The waiver explicitly states that abortions, family planning, conferences, transgender surgeries, gender or Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. The waiver goes on to clarify Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) may only be used to support activities that qualify as life-saving assistance or for repatriation.
Brookings outlines foreign assistance in three categories: humanitarian assistance, developmental assistance, and security funding. Humanitarian assistance provides food, medical care, shelter, security, and more for life-saving relief from natural and human-caused disasters. Developmental assistance promotes economic, social, and political development, and security funding helps strengthen police, military, and security forces of a country. The relative proportions of funding for each category vary each year and little assistance is delivered as cash to governments. Foreign aid accounts for about 1 percent of the federal budget, most assistance is provided through U.S., global, or local organizations. Brookings reports there is evidence that developmental and humanitarian programs produce considerable results for both the U.S. and the country receiving aid. Foreign aid can advance U.S. economic interests through building economies and markets and support national security by supporting American allies.
The U.S. State Department released a statement saying President Trump clearly stated the United States is going to have a more rigorous procedure when it comes to choosing where to provide foreign aid. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also assured to question every American dollar spent on foreign aid with three questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it increase American prosperity?
According to the BBC, the United States is the world’s biggest international aid donor, spending $68 billion in 2023. Dave Harden, a former USAID mission director in the Middle East has said this halt could affect a wide array of critical development projects including sanitation, shelter, and water. A notable exception in the freeze is for emergency food aid and military funding for Israel and Egypt. A wide-scale review of all foreign assistance is planned to be completed within 85 days to ensure the aid adheres to President Trump’s foreign policy goals.
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