The Trump administration has announced the elimination of over 90% of the US Agency for International Development’s foreign aid contracts and a reduction of $60 billion in overall US assistance globally. This move will leave very few USAid projects for advocates to try to save amidst ongoing court battles with the administration.
The plans, outlined in an internal memo obtained by the Associated Press and filings in a federal lawsuit, indicate that the administration cannot meet a court-ordered deadline to pay for past work. They requested the supreme court put a hold on a federal judge’s order requiring the government to pay foreign aid funds to contractors and grant recipients for past work. However, a Washington DC federal appeals court denied this request.
Lawyers for the US Department of Justice argue that the administration has the right to suspend agreements while it reviews them to determine compliance with administration policy. The disclosures give an idea of the scale of the administration’s withdrawal from US aid and development assistance overseas, as well as from decades of policy that foreign aid helps US interests by stabilizing other countries and economies and building alliances.
Donald Trump and ally Elon Musk have been strong critics of foreign aid, viewing USAid projects as advancing a liberal agenda and wastage of money. Trump ordered a 90-day program-by-program review of foreign assistance programs and cut off all foreign assistance funds almost overnight. This has halted thousands of US-funded programs abroad as the administration and Musk’s “department of government efficiency” teams have pulled the majority of USAid staff off the job.
In federal court filings, nonprofits owed money on contracts with USAid have described the rapid termination of contracts worldwide without meaningful review. The state department claims that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reviewed these terminations.
In total, the Trump administration plans to eliminate 5,800 of 6,200 multi-year USAid contract awards (amounting to a cut of $54 billion) and 4,100 of 9,100 state department grants (amounting to a cut of $4.4 billion). The Washington Free Beacon was the first to report on the memo, which described the administration’s response to a federal court order to lift the block on foreign aid funding.
Trump administration officials have also stated that they have begun paying USAid bills again after a month-long halt on payments, following repeated warnings from the federal judge in the case.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/26/trump-usaid-cuts
