Trump administration terminated funding for aid programs it said were lifesaving

When the Trump administration abruptly terminated ten thousand foreign assistance contracts and grants last week, it ended funding for programs around the world – including those that had been granted waivers by the State Department to continue their lifesaving work.

When the Trump administration abruptly terminated ten thousand foreign assistance contracts and grants last week, it ended funding for programs around the world – including those that had been granted waivers by the State Department to continue their lifesaving work. Millions of people may be affected by the cancelation of the funding, sources said, noting that it exacerbates the impact already felt from the dismantling of USAID and the sweeping foreign aid freeze and stop work orders put in place in late January. Although some had been restored, such as for production of emergency food products at one company following CNN reporting, many remained terminated as of Monday. Those terminated last week included contracts for work providing clean water and shelter, treating infants and children with HIV/AIDS, preventing infectious diseases, and countless other efforts. That freeze included an exemption for Secretary of State Marco Rubio to issue waivers for lifesaving services like food and water. However, a USAID official was put on leave after they wrote a memo saying that they were unable to implement the waivers due to actions by Trump administration appointees. According to the administration, the terminations were the result of Rubio and the State Department finishing a review of the frozen foreign assistance. “You cannot pause a plane in mid-flight, fire the crew, without a catastrophe,” said Atul Gawande, a former head of USAID’s Global Health Bureau. “You can’t terminate just by shutting off … you have to be able to enable a proper transition, or people will be hurt.”