FROM USAID February 18, 2026 Dear USAID Contractor/Recipient, The Agency’s Chief Acquisition Officer (CAO) has approved a class deviation to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), revising the audit threshold applicable to termination settlement proposals (TSPs) for certain contracts terminated in response to Executive Order 14169, Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid or Executive Order … [Read more…]
FAR Updates to Align with eSRS Decommissioning
GSA will decommission the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS.gov) on February 20, 2026, moving subcontracting reporting to SAM.gov, as part of the ongoing effort to modernize the suite of federal acquisition systems. To align with this change, the FAR Council has amended the FAR part 19 model deviation text. For more information, check out— To … [Read more…]
EVENT – Inside the Destruction of the U.S. Agency for International Development
Join ProPublica journalists for a conversation about the dismantling of U.S. foreign aid worldwide. Feb 114:00pm 5:00pm EST Virtual RSVP Within months of taking office, Trump officials eradicated the world’s largest humanitarian agency, slashing thousands of lifesaving programs and putting millions of lives at risk. While many news organizations covered these developments, no one reported on the … [Read more…]
HHS Is Using AI Tools From Palantir to Target ‘DEI’ and ‘Gender Ideology’ in Grants
Since last March, the Department of Health and Human Services has been using AI tools from Palantir to screen and audit grants, grant applications, and job descriptions for noncompliance with President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting “gender ideology” and anything related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), according to a recently published inventory of all … [Read more…]
Trump Administration Plans to Use AI to Write Federal Regulations
The Department of Transportation is reportedly planning to use AI language models to draft regulations, with humans relegated to monitoring “AI-to-AI interactions” and proofreading machine output. Legal experts warn this approach could produce arbitrary, error-filled policies lacking evidentiary basis, potentially putting lives at risk in areas like aviation safety and pipeline regulation while opening agencies … [Read more…]
‘Entirely inappropriate’: Judge rejects Trump admin request to stay discovery in lawsuit over dismantling USAID
A federal judge has nixed a request by the Trump administration to stay discovery in, and quickly move forward with, an ongoing lawsuit over cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In the underlying litigation, over two dozen pseudonymous current and former employees or contractors with USAID sued Elon Musk, arguing his then-position … [Read more…]
Black Woman Job Tracker
It’s hard to keep up with how the Trump administration is reshaping the job market for Black women. The Black Woman Job Tracker breaks it all down—free. blackwomenjobs.beehiiv.com
WHO launches 2026 appeal to help millions of people in health emergencies and crisis settings
The World Health Organization (WHO) today launched its 2026 global appeal to ensure that millions of people living in humanitarian crises and conflicts can access health care. In 2025, WHO and partners supported 30 million people funded through its annual emergency appeal. These resources helped deliver life-saving vaccination to 5.3 million children, enabled 53 million health … [Read more…]
Rise of the Trump Loyalist
The destruction of the civil service can destroy democracy, too. Kathleen Walters was only 23 days away from qualifying for early retirement at the IRS when she decided to quit, rather than acquiesce to a Trump-administration request that she break the law and compromise millions of people’s privacy. She’s one of hundreds of thousands of … [Read more…]
One year later: How US policies are reshaping global health and humanitarian aid
One year ago, the Trump administration in the United States of America (US) issued a series of executive actions that upended global health and humanitarian programmes around the world, and severely damaged global cooperation and solidarity on these issues. Clinics shut their doors. Lifesaving medicines were stranded at ports. Health workers lost their jobs. The … [Read more…]