U.S. Ends (temporarily) Most Foreign Aid. USAID Officials Placed on Leave for Insubordination.

On his first day in office, President Trump signed an Executive Order freezing all U.S. foreign aid. “It is the policy of United States that no further United States foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States. “

Read the Executive Order: “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid“

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum instructing all Federal agencies that they “must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance … including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal. This temporary pause will provide the Administration time to review agency programs and determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the
President’s priorities.”

The OMB memo further advised that, “Financial assistance should be dedicated to advancing Administration priorities, focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America, eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens, unleashing American energy and manufacturing, ending “wokeness” and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again. The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve.”

Read the OMB Memo: “Temporary Pause of Agency Grant, Loan, and Other Financial Assistance Programs“

Then, upon his confirmation as the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio ordered a pause to all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) to allow a review to determine if the expenditures align with the President’s “America First” policies.

In a statement, the State Department said the Secretary “is initiating a review of all foreign assistance programs to ensure they are efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda. President Trump stated clearly that the United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people.”

The statement said the reassessment is a “moral imperative,” and that Sec. Rubio will conduct “a deliberate and judicious review” of the foreign aid process.

But apparently, the leadership at USAID didn’t think they should obey the President’s Order or the Secretary’s directive, and within a week more than fifty career officials were placed on administrative leave for trying to “circumvent” the President’s Executive Order freezing foreign aid. “We have identified several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the President’s Executive orders and the mandate from the American people,” said the newly installed acting administrator, Jason Gray, according to an email published by The Washington Post. “As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice.”

Fast-forward yet another week and the two top security officials at USAID have been placed on administrative leave after they refused to allow personnel from the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to access classified information as a part of DOGE’s efforts to find wasteful spending, fraud, and corruption.  At this point, all we’re reading indicates that President Trump is considering a total overhaul of USAID, due to its unwillingness or inability to follow his orders. There is some speculation that USAID will be rolled into the State Department and put directly under the authority of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Musk in a post on X wrote on February 2, 2025, that it is time for USAID “to die.” He went on to say that “USAID is a criminal organization.”

The United States is the world’s largest donor of foreign aid. We give away over $70 billion annually. Often there is no accountability. Our officials can’t say, with specificity, where all of it goes, to whom it is given, how it is used, or how much of it ends up in the hands of corrupt politicians overseas. In 2024, the U.S. provided 42% of all global humanitarian aid. Why is this giveaway the unending burden of the American taxpayers? It is doubtful that most Americans, indeed most American officials, can provide a cogent answer. Yes, we are a big, wealthy country. But our building blocks are individual citizens who work hard and pay their taxes, taxes that they hope will go to improve their communities, their parks, their roadways, their public hospitals, public safety, schools, national defense, and other traditional governmental functions. They don’t pay their taxes to see the money distributed in far-flung corners of the globe, corners they have never even heard of, and to support one side or the other of distant wars that really do not impact us. President Trump has himself remarked that our money often goes to countries that don’t even respect to the United States. Tammy Bruce, now the State Department’s spokesperson, made clear that the United States will no longer “blindly dole out money with no return for the American people.”

Recipients, always expecting a giveaway were aghast. U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, immediately called for “additional exemptions to be considered to ensure the continued delivery of critical development and humanitarian activities for the most vulnerable communities around the world, whose lives and livelihoods depend on this support.” Self-designated humanitarian organizations also expressed shock.

So far, the only exceptions announced were for continued assistance to Israel and Egypt and food assistance programs. Waivers allowing delivery of emergency food during the review period will require “detailed information and justification.” Any additional waivers will require approval by both USAID leadership and by Secretary Rubio.

There does not appear to be any exception in place for Ukraine, so all U.S. aid and assistance to that war-torn country should have ceased. This, however, was refuted by the unelected President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said on Saturday the U.S. has not stopped military aid to Ukraine. Zelenskyy did not say whether humanitarian aid had stopped flowing. “I am focused on military aid; it has not been stopped, thank God.”

USAID sent contractors a notice ordering that they “immediately issue stop-work orders” and to “amend, or suspend existing awards.”