US State Department Announces Significant Cuts to Foreign Aid Programs
The United States has substantially reduced the budgets allocated to overseas development and aid programs, according to a statement released by the State Department, as per Al Jazeera.
Multi-year contracts have been reduced by 92 percent, amounting to a $54 billion decrease.
The move follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump shortly after his inauguration on January 20, which mandated a 90-day freeze on all US foreign aid. This freeze allowed senior leadership to conduct a review aimed at cutting spending on programs deemed not aligned with the “America First” agenda.
The review primarily targeted multi-year foreign assistance contracts awarded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
“At the conclusion of a process led by USAID leadership, including tranches personally reviewed by Secretary [Marco] Rubio, nearly 5,800 awards with $54 billion in value remaining were identified for elimination as part of the America First agenda – a 92 percent reduction,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement.
In addition to contracts, the review assessed over 9,100 grants involving foreign assistance, totaling more than $15.9 billion. The outcome of this review resulted in the targeting of around 4,100 grants, worth almost $4.4 billion, for elimination, representing a 28 percent reduction.
“These commonsense eliminations will allow the bureaus, along with their contracting and grants officers, to focus on remaining programs, find additional efficiencies, and tailor subsequent programs more closely to the Administration’s America First priorities,” the State Department spokesperson said.
The statement clarified that certain programs were exempted from the cuts, including food assistance, life-saving medical treatments for diseases like HIV and malaria, and support for specific countries such as Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela, and Lebanon.
