What Is USAID, Why Trump Wants To Shut It Down, How Will This Hit Programmes Worldwide? Explained
Trump allies have called USAID corrupt and Left-wing, with the government freezing the agency's funds and putting officials on administrative leave. Oxfam, Amnesty say getting rid of USAID will put millions around the world at risk
Billionaire and chief of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Elon Musk has said the US government is planning to shut down US Agency for International Development (USAID) — a decades’ old organisation responsible for carrying out foreign aid programmes around the world.
“With regards to the USAID stuff, I went over it with (the president) in detail and he agreed that we should shut it down," Musk said early Monday. Musk said he checked with President Donald Trump “a few times" and Trump confirmed he wants to shut down the agency.
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This comes a week after Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid, and the removal of two top USAID security officials after they refused to grant representatives of Musk’s DOGE access to restricted spaces at the agency, The Washington Post reported.
Here what to know about USAID, what work does it do and how ceasing its operations will impact humanitarian programmes around the world.
What Work Does USAID Do?
The US-funded agency provides humanitarian and development assistance to other countries, primarily by providing funds to non-governmental organisations, foreign governments and international organisations, or other US agencies, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
The Washington Post reported that in fiscal year 2023, USAID managed more than $40 billion of funding — less than 1% of the federal budget, according to federal records — provided to about 130 countries. The top recipients of USAID funding included Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.
The CRS says more than 10,000 people work for USAID, about two-thirds of whom serve outside of the US.
Some of the projects being undertaken by USAID, as mentioned on its website, include providing aid to famine-stricken regions in Sudan, providing textbooks for displaced schoolchildren in Ukraine and training health workers in Rwanda.
How Old Is USAID?
The organisation was created under John F Kennedy’s tenure through Foreign Assistance Act. The US government was more inclined towards international development assistance in the 1940s with the Marshall Plan, as it sought to provide help to European countries in rebuilding themselves after the World War II.
Gradually, the USAID moved towards providing funding for healthcare and education development and promote democratic and free markets.
Health programmes have been the largest USAID sector by funding since the early 1990s, bolstered in 2004 by billions of dollars from the US State Department’s efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, according to the CRS. Health continued to dominate USAID projects through the Covid-19 pandemic, until it was surpassed by humanitarian aid as the largest sector in 2022 and governance assistance in 2023, as a result of US support to Ukraine.
What Has Trump Administration Said About USAID?
Musk said USAID is “beyond repair," among other attacks he made against the agency created by Congress as an independent body. We don’t have “an apple with a worm in it," he said. “We have a ball of worms." “USAID is a ball of worms."
USAID, which is considered a soft power tool of the US to foster relations with the communities around the world, has been called “corrupt", wasteful by Trump’ allies. The State Department last week vowed to review all foreign assistance programs and ensure spending aligns with “the America First agenda."
In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday, Democratic members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee requested “an immediate update about the access of USAID’s headquarters, including whether the individuals who accessed the headquarters were authorized to be there and by whom."
“The potential access of sensitive, even classified, files, which may include the personally identifiable information (PII) of Americans working with USAID, and this incident as a whole, raises deep concerns about the protection and safeguarding of matters related to US national security," the letter said.
The Senators also wrote that “any effort to merge or fold USAID into the Department of State should be, and by law must be, previewed, discussed and approved by Congress.
Trump administration officials and Republican lawmakers believe much foreign assistance is money that should be spent or saved at home.
How Fund Freeze Will Affect Programmes Worldwide
Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the US freeze doesn’t affect vital American support to his military as it fights against Russia. The only military aid the State Department is responsible for and thus is covered by the pause is foreign military financing and international military education and training. Most of Ukraine’s military aid, however, has come from the Pentagon. That includes a programme drawing from existing arms stocks and another called the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which is used to pay for weapons contracts that would not be delivered for a year or more. Neither of the Defense Department programmes is directly affected by the freeze, although US officials say there is nothing in the pipeline either.
Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe is one of the few African countries to achieve a milestone in HIV/AIDS diagnosis, treatment and suppression of viral load. This was possible due to a groundbreaking HIV programme created by Republican President George W Bush, credited with saving more than 20 million lives. The programme — the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR — has been targeted by Republican hardliners.
Gaza Strip: The Trump administration has partially defended its move to halt foreign aid by claiming the Joe Biden administration was wasting federal funds by spending $50 million on “condoms in Gaza," which White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said was a “preposterous waste of taxpayer money." There is no evidence suggesting that expenditure actually happened.
How Have The Experts Reacted?
Oxfam argued dismantling USAID would be “recklessly throwing away its critical experience and strategic focus" on providing aid, and the organisation “would expect to see less impact and less accountability to the American people."
Amnesty International executive director Paul O’Brien similarly said getting rid of the agency would “put the rights of millions of people around the world at greater risk as a result," arguing foreign governments worldwide are “better equipped to meet their human rights obligations because of the technical and financial resources USAID provides."
Who Action Has Been Taken On USAID?
The Trump has administration placed dozens of USAID officials on administrative leave since Monday and accused the agency of attempting to circumvent the funding freeze.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) said any move to dissolve USAID would be illegal. In a joint letter Friday, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Reps. Gregory W. Meeks (D-New York) and Lois Frankel (D-Florida) wrote that the freeze would jeopardise energy assistance for Ukraine and help American adversaries like Russia and China.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced an exemption for “life-saving" programmes like President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), but aid officials said other projects remain in limbo and are at risk of shuttering if the funding freeze continues, The Washington Post reported.
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