Tag Archives: USAID

The Hill reports: A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Elon Musk and DOGE likely exercised unconstitutional authority “in multiple ways” in dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang’s ruling in favor of 26 current and former U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) workers seeks to “delay a premature, final shutdown” of the agency while …

The Guardian reports: Johns Hopkins University announced it was planning to cut more than 2,000 jobs after the Trump administration slashed $800m in grants to the renowned academic institution. The funding for the positions had come from USAID, which the administration has gutted with massive cuts. A total of 247 domestic US workers and another 1,975 positions abroad in 44 …

The New York Times reports: A senior official at the main U.S. aid agency, which is being dismantled by the Trump administration, told employees to clear safes holding classified documents and personnel files by shredding the papers or putting them into bags for burning, according to an email sent to the staff. The email sent by Erica Y. Carr, the …

The New York Times reports: Mr. Modore has tuberculosis. He is 40, a tall man whose weight has dropped to 110 pounds. He has a wracking cough and sometimes vomits blood. He fears the disease will kill him and has been desperate to be on medication to treat it. Mr. Modore is one of thousands of Kenyans, and hundreds of …

“After a 6 week review we are officially cancelling 83% of the programs at USAID. The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States. In consultation with Congress, we intend for the remaining 18% of programs we …

“This week, I met with some Alaskan USAID employees. They not only informed me of the confusing and callous handling of personnel matters by OPM and DOGE, but they also painted an incredibly troubling picture of what the world looks like without humanitarian assistance from the United States. “Although I support measures to find inefficiencies within the agency, USAID’s mission …

The New York Times reports: The Ebola outbreak in Uganda has worsened significantly, and the country’s ability to contain the spread has been severely weakened by the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign assistance, American officials said this week. The officials, representing a variety of health and security agencies, made the assessment during a meeting with U.S. Embassy staff in Kampala, …

CNN reports: A divided Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s request to keep billions of dollars in foreign aid approved by Congress frozen. However, the court did not immediately say when the money must be released, allowing the White House to continue to dispute the issue in lower courts. The ruling was 5-4. At the center of the …

NBC News reports: The State Department this week terminated a USAID initiative that has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to help restore Ukraine’s energy grid from attacks by the Russian military. Power outages have been applied overnight in some regions of Ukraine due to the attacks on energy facilities. The country’s systems have sustained near-constant impact throughout the course …

The New York Times reports: Starting Wednesday afternoon, a wave of emails went out from the State Department in Washington around the world, landing in inboxes for refugee camps, tuberculosis clinics, polio vaccination projects and thousands of other organizations that received crucial funding for lifesaving work. “This award is being terminated for convenience and the interest of the U.S. government,” …

Reuters reports: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has dismissed concerns that Washington is ending foreign aid, saying waivers had been provided to life-saving aid. Only weeks later, the administration decided to terminate more than 90% of the programs globally, according to a February 25 court document, including many that were initially covered by waivers such as work tackling HIV …

The Associated Press reports: Thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development workers who have been fired or placed on leave as part of the Trump administration’s dismantling of the agency are being given a brief window Thursday and Friday to clear out their workspaces. Many USAID workers saw the administration’s terms for retrieving their belongings as insulting. In the notice, …

Axios reports: A federal district court judge on Tuesday granted a motion to enforce his temporary restraining order against the Trump administration over its foreign aid freeze. It comes days after U.S. District Court Judge Amir Ali said the administration had “not complied” fully with his order pausing the freeze on foreign aid. Ali ordered the Trump administration to pay …

The Associated Press reports: The Trump administration said Sunday that it was placing all but a fraction of staffers at the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave worldwide and eliminating 2,000 U.S.-based staff positions. “As of 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 23, 2025, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, …

NOTUS reports: Trump’s efforts to dismantle USAID could hurt a surprising group: American farmers. As part of his broad slashing and freezing of federal spending, Trump froze food purchases for foreign aid through USAID last month. Over 40% of the food distributed through USAID programs is purchased from farmers in the U.S., amounting to about $2 billion per year. “President …

ABC News reports: A U.S. foreign service officer deployed overseas blamed President Donald Trump administration’s “cruel and harmful shutdown” of USAID for threatening the lives of his pregnant wife and unborn child, according to court documents filed Monday night. Identified in an affidavit only as Terry Doe, the foreign service officer explained in vivid detail how the emotional strain, financial …

CNN reports: The inspector general of the US Agency for International Development was fired on Tuesday, a day after his office released a report critical of the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. Paul Martin was informed by an email from the deputy director of the Office of Presidential Personnel on …

The Associated Press reports: The U.S. Agency for International Development has lost almost all ability to track $8.2 billion in unspent humanitarian aid after the Trump administration’s foreign funding freeze and idling of staff, a government watchdog warned Monday. The new administration’s rapid dismantling of USAID has left oversight of the humanitarian aid “largely nonoperational,” the inspector general’s office for …

The Associated Press reports: The Vatican’s charity voiced outrage Monday at what it called the “reckless” and “unhuman” U.S. plans to gut USAID, with Pope Francis’ point-man on development aid insisting that the Trump administration remember Christian principles about caring for others as it begins governing. Cardinal Michael Czerny, a Czech-born Canadian Jesuit, is one of the cardinals most closely …

Current reports: Thousands and thousands of Christian organizations, including Trump acolyte Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse, have taken federal money to help advance their missions. Christian charities have lost funds as a result of Trump’s cuts to USAID. They include World Vision, World Relief, International Justice Mission, Samaritan’s Purse, and Catholic Relief Services. Some Trump evangelicals are also attacking evangelical organizations …