Freezing Foreign Aid

REMEMBER on the very first day, January 20, 2025, when President Donald J. Trump returned to the White House and assumed America’s 47th presidency, in Washington, D.C., he signed over 250 executive orders ushering in multiple transformations in the nation’s administratively critical offices. One of the President’s executive orders imposed ‘far-reaching freeze on U.S. foreign aid programmes. As a result, several US-funded humanitarian educational and socially focused developmental organizations’ operations plunged into untold chaos and crises. These bodies which were engaged in enormously significant work had to suspend their work and terminate tens of thousands of workers thrusting them under incalculable panic of ultimately losing their jobs. Some of these outfits were told to shut down, send their staff on ‘forced-paid-leave.’

Among the offices shuttered down by Donald Trump’s freezing foreign aid executive order was the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Overall, thousands (estimated to be over 75,000) of staff working in dozens of departments were affected; majority of them being in the first year of their appointment. The USAID has been one of the largest independent aid agencies directly under topmost official, the secretary of state.

The USAID was established in 1961 by the (Democratic Party) late President John F. Kennedy. During more than 60 years of its existence, USAID has delivered Yeoman’s services to the communities across the world in countless humanitarian relief areas - natural disasters succour, socio-economic development, environmental protection, hunger support, global health, democratic governance, education, disease, particularly HIV/AIDS, Ebola, etc. Its average annual sanctioned grants by the US Department of State amounted to $25 billion. USAID has its missions in nearly 120 countries all over the world, particularly in less developed and developing countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. USAID’s creation was envisioned during the Cold War years when the U.S. and the Soviet Union were in adversary positions for enhancing their global influence and ‘winning friends’ from among the low-income countries.

Though the USAID’s work has earned unprecedented encomiums for rendering most timely assistance in areas of acute need, practically in any part of the world. Its programmes are authorised by America’s Congress (Parliament) under the Foreign Assistance Act. USAID’s official status was also restructured in 1998 making it ‘an independent establishment’ outside of the US Department of State.

Meanwhile, President Trump invited Elon Musk, eminent owner of the social media platform ‘X’, formerly Twitter, to advise budget and reduce expenses on staff payments. So, in pursuance of his cost-cutting goals, on January 24, Trump ordered massive freeze of all foreign aid projects and missions, creating a gigantic fear among thousands of workers in the US and all over the globe where US-aided entities, including USAID, were functional. Employees were sent on ‘paid leave’. After going into various operations of the USAID, Musk and Trump expressed dissatisfaction at its working, ordered shutting down of its website and calling it a ‘criminal organization’… adding ‘it needs to die’… ‘it’s beyond repairs’ … etc. Though USAID offices stand shut down-barring its essential services that stay in work. Also, the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is said to be in charge of its operations.

Meanwhile, it’s also learned that USAID’s status can’t be disturbed by anyone except Congress; a legal suit is said to have been filed to challenge the Trump administration’s action. A US district judge has also stayed the Trump White House’s executive order. Incidentally, USAID’s former administrator Samantha Power has, in a media write-up on the issue opined that ‘USAID has generated vast store of political capital in more than 100 countries where it works(ed) making it more likely that when the US makes hard requests to their leaders to help a U S company, they say yes…. The USAID has enjoyed bipartisan support in the six decades since it was created…’

Finally, President Donald Trump has also dragged India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this controversy when he said that the US gave India $21 million for ‘voter turnover’, seems to be irrelevant to the issue at stake…in any case, this amount was said to have been given to India for survey and study on the Bangladesh’s general elections. And recent reports in ‘India Today’ and ‘Indian Express’ have elucidated at length all the ifs and buts of President Trump’s statements about the $21million USAID money awarded to India.

It needs to be averred strongly that USAID has certainly played a significant role in India. According to a “RepublicWorld” report, India received $750 million funds for seven different projects focusing on agriculture, healthcare, and renewable energy, contradicting President Trump’s claims for ‘voter turnover’ funding; actually, allocated to Bangladesh.