We’re tracking recent Executive Orders. Below are developments as of March 27.
Latest Developments
- On March 10, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that following the completion of the State Department’s review of foreign aid programming, 83% of USAID programs would be terminated. All remaining programs are set to be rehoused within the State Department.
- On March 5, the Supreme Court rejected the administration’s request to freeze more than $2 billion in foreign aid to USAID and State Department partners accounting for work completed prior to Feb. 13. Decided by a 5-4 ruling, the court requested that U.S. District Judge Amir Ali “clarify what obligations the government must fulfill.” On March 6, Judge Ali ruled that administration must fulfill roughly $2 billion of outstanding payments to all groups covered in the trial, outlining a payment plan by March 14. An additional case on the broader foreign aid freeze along with the termination of the 10,000 USAID contracts remains active.
- On Feb. 26, the Trump administration ended nearly 10,000 contracts and awards for wide-reaching foreign assistance programs that impact health, peace and security, food and nutrition, human trafficking and more. Although the terminations are being challenged in a number of court filings, the impact is already widespread. This follows a judgment from U.S. District Judge Amir Ali on Feb. 25 ordering the administration to pay foreign aid funds to contractors and grant recipients within 48 hours, saying there was no sign that it had taken any steps to comply with his earlier order that the administration’s freeze on the funds be lifted.
- The rulings come after the State Department issued a temporary restriction on all grant funding for 15 days on Feb. 14. Though waivers for “lifesaving assistance” were initially guaranteed, USAID’s payment system Phoenix remains inactive and the waiver process is opaque. This has prevented the renewal of payments even for programs that have been authorized to continue.
- The flurry of actions follows President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) pausing U.S. foreign development assistance for 90 days to foreign countries, NGOs, international organizations and contractors. In the same tranche of Executive Orders, the Administration announced a review “of all international intergovernmental organizations of which the United States is a member and provides any type of funding or other support, and all conventions and treaties to which the United States is a party…” within 180 days.
Impacts of Ending U.S. Funding to Key UN Program
- Relying on U.S. funding for half of its budget, the World Food Programme (WFP) has been forced to shut down its Southern Africa office due to the pause. In a region currently experiencing severe drought and escalating conflict, the office’s closure will limit the delivery of humanitarian aid. Funding cuts have also forced WFP to halve its distribution of rations to Rohingya and Kenyan refugees and continued cuts threaten to shut down key WFP programs targeting child malnutrition in Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen.
- USAID purchases $2.1 billion in food commodities from U.S. farmers annually. These purchases are greatly threatened by the current pause on foreign aid.
- UNICEF has warned that continued cuts to international aid could bring an end to decades of progress in fighting child mortality, even risking a reversal in global progress.
- The UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), a lifeline for distributing humanitarian aid in hard to reach places or in the face of conflict, may have to suspend its operations by the end of February in the DRC, Syria, Haiti, CAR, Yemen, Cameroon, Mauritania and Madagascar. If UNHAS discontinued its operations in Haiti, the UN would have to cease all programs in-country.
- Funding and staff cuts to programs monitoring and responding to infectious disease will likely result in more than 28,000 new cases of infectious diseases like Ebola and Marburg, and 200,000 cases of paralytic polio each year.
- The U.S. is a key partner of Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), which helps vaccinate hundreds of millions of children against polio in more than 40 countries every year. The U.S. provides over one-quarter of its annual budget. During the 90–day work freeze alone, as many as 110 million children due to receive polio vaccines may now go unprotected.
- U.S. foreign assistance funds entry and exit screenings at the airport in Uganda and at two border crossings, where World Health Organization (WHO) officials are battling an outbreak of the Sudan Virus, a highly contagious variation of the hemorrhagic disease Ebola.
- Cuts to UNAIDS programs around the world have resulted in the termination of 1,952 doctors, 1,234 nurses, and 918 technical and management staff in Kenya; 8,600 healthcare providers and community workers in Côte d’Ivoire; 423 medical and technical staff in Namibia and about 250 health professionals that provided technical assistance to the HIV program in Angola. These cuts are estimated to cause an additional 6.3 million AIDS-related deaths over the next four years.
- UNFPA, the UN’s women’s health agency, warned that between 2025 and 2028 in Afghanistan, the absence of U.S. support will likely result in 1,200 additional maternal deaths and 109,000 additional unintended pregnancies.
- In Myanmar, where malaria cases increased tenfold over four years, the delivery of malaria tests and drugs have stopped.
- The International Organization for Migration is ending its assistance through its fund of last resort for human trafficking victims worldwide.
- In 2023, in an effort to reduce drug trafficking via Mexican ports, the State Department, Mexican government and the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) launched the Container Control Programme (CCP) in the port of Manzanillo – Mexico’s largest. Manzanillo is the port on “the frontline of the U.S. battle against fentanyl.” The CCP trains customs officers and law enforcement officials in identifying and inspecting high-risk containers and combating illicit trafficking. Over the past year – because of UN assistance and U.S. funding – there have been major seizures of precursor chemicals from China, as well as methamphetamine and fentanyl at the port. Due to the Stop Work order, the Container Control Programme training of personnel has ceased, which will increase the risk that more fentanyl and illicit drugs come into the United States.
Strategic Consequences
- Since the reconstruction of Europe following World War II, there has been bipartisan recognition that foreign assistance can be used to secure alliances, stabilize economies and foster prosperity.
- Halting aid not only undermines these goals but also opens the door for rival powers like China and Russia to expand their influence.
- China’s Belt and Road Initiative has already poured over $1 trillion into infrastructure projects across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Beijing’s investments, such as railways in Kenya and ports in Djibouti, bolster its strategic foothold in regions critical to U.S. interests.
- By suspending aid, the U.S. risks opening an opportunity for China to position itself as a more reliable and influential partner.
