On January 24, 2025, the Secretary of State ordered a pause in all new obligations of foreign
assistance funding pending an 85-day review of United States foreign assistance programs.1 The
Secretary additionally ordered contracting and grant officers to issue stop-work orders for all
existing foreign assistance awards.2 As such, all USAID programs were suspended, including
those with funds already obligated and disbursed.
The Secretary’s January 24 order contained an initial waiver for “emergency food assistance.”
Four days later, the Secretary issued a waiver for disbursements under existing “lifesaving
humanitarian assistance” programs, defined as “life-saving medicine, medical services, food,
shelter, and subsistence assistance, as well as supplies and reasonable administrative costs as
necessary.” USAID guidance on implementation of the pause and subsequent waivers also
included a directive for staff to refrain from external communications outside of
“communications necessary to implement the pause.”4 Moreover, Agency officials’ plans to
place more than 90 percent of the USAID workforce on paid administrative leave effective
February 9 were paused for at least a week by a court order issued on February 7.
- Personnel Actions Reduce the Operational Capacity of USAID Staff Responsible for Humanitarian Assistance Programs
- Recent Directives Have Curtailed USAID’s Ability to Vet Humanitarian Assistance Awards for Potential Terrorist Ties and Monitor Aid Deliveries in High-Risk Environments
- Staff Reductions Have Constrained USAID’s Ability to Receive and Respond to Allegations of Misconduct Involving Humanitarian Assistance Programming