USAID officially shuts down, aid programmes moved to state department

In a sweeping foreign policy overhaul, the United States has dissolved the Agency for International Development (USAID), ending over six decades of global development work.

Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, announced the decision in a statement on July 1.

USAID was founded in 1961 under the late President John Kennedy and has long been the lead agency for US humanitarian and development aid, overseeing programmes in global health, education, agriculture, democracy support, and disaster relief across over 100 countries.

Rubio pegged the agency’s disbursement over the decades at over $715 billion in inflation-adjusted spending.

President Donald Trump has been vocal in his criticism of USAID’s essence, arguing that its funding should be redirected towards domestic priorities.

When Elon Musk headed the department of government efficiency (DOGE), he said Trump agreed to shut down USAID, as it was a “drainpipe” of taxpayer funds.

Foreign assistance distributed by the agency typically makes up less than one percent of the US government budget.

Rubio said USAID “fell well below” the standard.

The US secretary of state also cited non-reciprocity of favours from its biggest aid recipients and growing anti-American sentiment as reasons for a slash in assistance.

“For example, in 2023, sub-Saharan African nations voted with the United States only 29 percent of the time on essential resolutions at the UN despite receiving $165 billion in outlays since 1991. That’s the lowest rate in the world,” Rubio said in the statement.

“Over the same period, more than $89 billion invested in the Middle East and North Africa left the U.S. with lower favorability ratings than China in every nation but Morocco.

“The agency’s expenditure of $9.3 billion in Gaza and the West Bank since 1991, whose beneficiaries included allies of Hamas, has produced grievances rather than gratitude towards the United States.

“The only ones living well were the executives of the countless NGOs, who often enjoyed five-star lifestyles funded by American taxpayers, while those they purported to help fell further behind.”

He said the leadership of the developing nations grew an “addiction” to USAID’s charity-based model, sinking the agency.

“This era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially come to an end,” he added.

“Under the Trump Administration, we will finally have a foreign funding mission in America that prioritizes our national interests.”

He said this new approach would place the US in a stronger position to counter China’s “exploitative aid model” and further its strategic interests in key regions around the world.

“We will not apologize for recognizing America’s longstanding commitment to life-saving humanitarian aid and promotion of economic development abroad must be in furtherance of an America First foreign policy,” he added.

“Foreign assistance programs that align with administration policies will now be administered by the state department where they will be delivered with more accountability, strategy, and efficiency.”