Is USAID Gone?

This post was originally published on February 18, 2025 by Grants Works for its Federal Grant Insights newsletter on LinkedIn.

USAID is becoming more and more of a household name these days because it is the first agency that has been significantly restructured by the current administration.

In just two weeks it has gone from having over 10,000 employees and contractors to approximately 611 employees. It has been folded into the State Department with former Senator now Secretary of State Marco Rubio appointed as the Acting Administrator of the agency, the website is gone, and many are unaware of the status of the grants awarded by the agency.

What Does USAID Do?

USAID was considered to be a “premier international development agency” with global health, economic growth, education, agriculture, and other programs being implemented around the world.

It has or had activities and projects in more than 120 countries with field offices in more than 60 countries around the world with most of the work being carried out by other organizations that were USAID contractors.

It was created in 1961 by President John F Kennedy through an executive order as an agency of the State Department under the authority of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.  It was then made its own agency within the Executive Branch as a result of the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998.

In 2003, then President George W Bush created the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and, interestingly, he placed PEPFAR with the State Department. It is interesting because the State Department does not implement programs and so far, PEPFAR was primarily implemented by USAID and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Under President Obama, USAID received more authority and support. Under President Trump’s first term, he made several changes and then under President Biden, the USAID Administrator was given a seat on the National Security Council.

Note that several other countries around the world have their own version of USAID.

Why the Trump Administration Restructured USAID

The current president does not believe American taxpayer dollars should be used for foreign aid.

The White House website listed several projects they believe help substantiate their reasons for wanting to dismantle the agency including $1.5 million to an LGBTQ group in Serbia, $2.5 million for electric vehicles in Vietnam, and $6 million for “tourism” in Egypt. Others have noted that that “tourism” project Egypt was mislabeled and that project was actually for “water, education and transportation aid projects.”

Almost immediately after he returned to the presidency, the President signed the Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid executive order that put almost all international spending on a 90-day review with waivers for “humanitarian programs.”

USAID: Current Status

Since signing the executive order, quite a lot has happened. As of Friday, February 7, 2025, thousands of USAID staffers and contractors began forced leave or have been furloughed.

Other actions taken include:

1. The US flag was taken down from the building.
2. Duct tape has been used to block out the agency’s name on a sign outside its Washington headquarters.
3. The administration says there will be a review of which aid and development programs it will resume and, once resumed, it will be run out of the State Department.
4. Employees posted overseas were given 30 days to return to the US if they choose to. The government is paying for their travel and moving costs if they return within 30 days.
5. The American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees filed a lawsuit on Thursday, February 6, 2025 asking the courts in Washington to “compel the reopening of USAID’s buildings, return its staffers to work, and restore funding.”
6. Judge Carl Nichols granted a temporary restraining order to avoid putting 2,200 workers from USAID on paid leave. That TRO was in place for a week and other legal actions have been taken.

Several other legal and Congressional actions have been taken including a Special Notice to All Foreign Assistance Recipients that was sent this past Saturday, February 15, 2025 that summarized the existing temporary restraining order against the Department of State, USAID, and OMB in the following cases: (1) AIDS Vaccine Coalition v. U.S. Department of State and (2) Global Health Council v. Trump.