Kathmandu. US President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Friday that it will effectively ‘reorganize’ the US international development agency USAID.
“Today, the State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) notified Congress of their intention to reorganize the department to include some of USAID’s activities by July 1, 2025,” a statement issued by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
The State Department plans to close the remaining USAID activities that do not align with the administration’s priorities,” he said. “Unfortunately, USAID’s programs were too low-value and too expensive. The agency had long since moved away from its original mission.” After taking office in January, Republican President Donald Trump signed an executive order to freeze U.S. foreign aid for 90 days.
The move has led to dramatic cuts to several USAID programs and some exemptions for critical humanitarian assistance. The freeze on aid to the independent agency created by Congress in 1961 has shocked and dismayed. Senate Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee condemned the move, saying in a statement that “the restructuring will not only make it impossible to implement any of USAID’s programs, but will also place significant burdens on the State Department that would significantly disrupt its core mission.” “This proposal is illegal, dangerous and wrong,” the statement said.
Before the closure, USAID managed an annual budget of about $43 billion, more than 40 percent of the world’s humanitarian aid. Most of its staff were placed on administrative leave shortly after Trump took office. USAID employees were informed of the plan to eliminate all non-essential jobs in a letter on Friday, according to various US media outlets.
In the letter, Jeremy Levin, acting head of the independent agency USAID, said the US State Department planned to close most of USAID’s independent operations in the coming months.
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