A catastrophe made in the U.S.A. — the deadly foreign aid cutoff

Congress appropriated $40 billion under existing laws that Trump has chosen to ignore.

Without warning, the Trump administration last month cut off almost all foreign aid, a sudden freeze on funds that:

• Risks the lives of more than 20 million people receiving regular HIV medication, especially LGBTQ people, women and HIV-infected children;
• Jeopardizes the health of 3 million children in U.S.-funded anti-malaria programs;
• Cuts off thousands of Ukrainians from mobile medical treatment near the front lines and counseling services for thousands of Ukrainian war veterans; and
• Much more that is slowly coming to light as reports filter in from programs throughout the world that have depended on the $40 billion annual spending in foreign aid that Congress appropriated under existing laws that Trump has chosen to ignore.

It’s a deadly catastrophe that’s made in the U.S.A.

This article attempts to keep track of what’s going on and why. It will be updated.

To soften the blow of the aid freeze, Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed to allow waivers for “life-saving humanitarian assistance”, defined as “core lifesaving medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance, as well as supplies and reasonable administrative costs as necessary to deliver such assistance.”

But it’s unclear who could approve such waivers. Almost 60 senior officials of the American foreign-aid agency, USAID, were sent home on paid leave. Several USAID employees were fired, apparently for informing USAID partners  about what was going on, which violated an mandated communications blackout.

The USAID website was taken offline.

At 12:45 a.m.Eastern time Feb. 3, USAID employees were told not to report to work because the USAID headquarters in Washington, D.C., would be closed

Also on Feb. 3. Rubio said he now the acting administrator of USAID and would delegate management of  day-to-day operations to Pete Marocco, who has been handling the dismantling of the agency for Trump.

Elon Musk, who is spearheading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort,  said during an online conversation on X (Twitter) that Trump agrees with him that USAID should be shut down — and that the shutdown is already under way.

Musk said that unlike an apple contaminated by a worm, the agency is “a bowl of worms.”

“There is no apple,” he said. “It’s beyond repair.”

Trump posted about USAID on his Truth Social network, writing: “CLOSE IT DOWN!”

In Trump’s Jan. 2o executive order, he declared a 90-day suspension of all U.S. foreign aid programs pending reviews to determine whether they are aligned with his policy goals. Theoretically, they could be restored after 90 days — if they survive that long — but conservative Republicans have long been opposed to almost all foreign aid.

Can Donald Trump shut down USAID?

If Trump obeys existing laws …

Here is the BBC’s answer to that question on Feb. 3, which assumes that Trump would obey existing law:

While it is clear the White House wields significant influence over USAID, that power is theoretically limited.

USAID came into being after Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act in 1961. That law mandated for a government agency to be set up and tasked with administering overseas spending.

Shortly after, then-President John F Kennedy set up USAID using an executive order. Another law was passed in 1998 which confirmed USAID’s status as an executive agency in its own right.

In short, that means Trump cannot necessarily simply abolish USAID by signing an executive order, and any attempt to do so would almost certainly face strong challenges in the courts and Congress.

Closing USAID altogether would likely require an act of Congress – where Trump’s Republican Party holds slim majorities in both chambers.

One of the options reportedly being considered by the Trump administration is effectively making USAID a branch of the State Department, as opposed to it being a government agency in its own right.

Judge may rein him in ….

On Feb. 7,  a judge in Washington, D.C., said he would temporarily reverse Trump officials’ orders putting 2,200 USAID workers on administrative leave and withdrawing almost all of the agency’s overseas workers within 30 days.

Judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court, a 2019 Trump appointee, said he would also decide whether 500 USAID workers who are already on leave would be reinstated. That action came in response to a lawsuit by unions representing USAID employees.

Millions of people at risk in Trump’s quest to save less than 1% of U.S. budget

As President Trump and his allies continue their demolition of America’s foreign aid agency, USAID, and refuse to spend already-appropriated funds for life-saving programs abroad, the devastating toll of their actions has increasingly become clear.

The fact that USAID was established by law and that funds were appropriated by Congress seems not to matter to Trump, who has declared that he will block all foreign aid except that which is aligned with his policy goals. Opponents of the Trump regime have not yet organized effective resistance to most of his barrage of self-authorized reversals of U.S. law.

Meanwhile the life-and-death consequences of his destruction of American-sponsored programs abroad are coming to light. As he seeks to eliminate the less than 1% of the U.S. budget that’s devoted to foreign aid, these are some of the victims and potential victims:

20 million people infected with HIV, including more than 500,000 children

Funds are in jeopardy for the U.S.-funded Pepfar program, which provides anti-HIV medications for more than 20 million people worldwide, including HIV-infected LGBTQ people, HIV-infected women and more than 500,000 children with HIV.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that waivers will be granted for “life-saving humanitarian assistance.” defined as “core lifesaving medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance, as well as supplies and reasonable administrative costs as necessary to deliver such assistance.” But it’s unclear how organizations can actually get a waiver while USAID is being shut down and incorporated into the State Department, with many USAID staff out of their jobs or barred from communicating with anyone, and thousands of USAID staff being recalled from offices abroad.

“The steps to lock out or put officials on leave have made it more difficult for remaining staff to manage the flood of exemption requests, a bottleneck that aid workers say has prevented lifesaving aid projects from restarting across the developing world”, the Washington Post reported.

Perhaps some waivers have been granted, but there have been no reports of that actually happening.

The Trump administration instructed organizations  to stop disbursing HIV medications purchased with U.S. aid, even if the drugs had already been obtained and were sitting in local clinics, the N.Y. Times reported . The administration moved to stop Pepfar funding from moving to clinics, hospitals and other organizations in low-income countries, the newspaper reported.

Young LGBTQ+ refugees from Venezuela

A program to provide mental health support for LGBTQ+ youth fleeing Venezuela was disbanded, the Washington Times reported..

LGBTQ people worldwide

Trump’s “reckless policy decision” is already producing “devastating consequences”, says the LGBTQ rights advocacy group Outright International. “Organizations have been forced to halt vital work, scale back programs, or, in some cases, face potential closure.”

Outright is urging LGBTQ organizations to share their stories via a short, anonymous survey.

Health care access for 9 million Afghans 

Health care is at risk for 9 million Afghans who are served by 1,700 health workers at the United Nations Population Agency (UNFPA), which had been getting 11% of its budget from USAID, according to the Devex news agency. The health workers will lose their jobs without a waiver to continue funding.

“UNFPA is scrambling for waivers, but time — and money — are running out,” Devex said.

And so many more …

For reporting on many other potentially fatal impacts of the aid freeze, see the article “American-made catastrophe: Growing toll of losses and deaths from USAID demolition“.  It lists the dangers for:

• 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza
• Health care access for millions of people in Bangladesh, Ukraine, Yemen and Sudan
• Military veterans in Ukraine
• Civilians near the front lines in Ukraine
• Impoverished people who need clean water
• One million refugees in Bangladesh
• Pregnant women in Haiti
• Venezuela refugees seeking homes in South America rather than the U.S.

• Children dying from mpox in West Africa, Tanzanians threatened by the Marburg virus
• 3 million children at risk from malaria
• Hungry schoolchildren denied $100,000s of food
• Migrants needing medical care at a shelter in Mexico
• And more.

Updates

The following updates have been incorporated above:

Feb. 3. Pete Marocco selected to administer day-to-day operations at what’s left of USAID.

Feb. 4. The BBC’s answer to the question “Can Donald Trump shut down USAID?”

Feb. 5. The growing toll of losses and deaths from the destruction of USAID

Feb. 7. District Court Judge Carl Nichols said he would temporarily reverse orders putting 2,200 USAID workers on administrative leave and withdrawing almost all of the agency’s overseas workers.

Feb. 8. Link to the more extensive list of losses and deaths in the article “American-made catastrophe: Growing toll of losses and deaths from USAID demolition“.