By: Matthew Winograd
Immediately after taking office, United States president Donald Trump ordered a 90 day pause on foreign aid, subject to a review of each program. This review includes looking into where the money is going, and how efficiently it is being spent. Trump’s executive order threw the USAID program into turmoil. USAID was one of the largest federal foreign investment programs, accounting for roughly 0.3% of the government’s total budget in 2024, about 22 billion dollars. Throughout the almost 2 months of the new Trump administration, 83% of USAID’s spending has been eliminated, and around 5,000 employees have had their positions terminated. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had this to say about the USAID cuts, “The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States.” These changes come as part of Trump’s America First plan, and Elon Musk’s goal of reducing government spending. There are questions about the legality of the actions taken by the Trump administration, which has been locked into legal battles for months over these actions.
Here is a timeline of the USAID saga:
January 20: Trump issues an executive order pausing all foreign aid programs.
February 4: More than a thousand USAID workers are placed on leave with promises of more to follow.
February 6: The Trump administration informs USAID that its workforce will be reduced to just a few hundred essential employees.
February 8: Trump-appointed federal judge Carl Nichols issues a temporary restraining order against the Trump Administration, pausing layoffs and reinstating some employees.
February 13: A second Federal judge issues an order preventing the Trump Administration from pausing or ending payments for contracts in place before January 20.
February 19: Aid groups report that the Trump administration is not adhering to the court orders and not paying for the previously agreed upon contracts.
February 25: The federal judge in the lawsuit to reinstate foreign aid orders the Trump administration to pay nearly $2 billion in contracts for aid work already completed. The judge sets a deadline for midnight the next day.
February 26: The Trump administration asks the Supreme Court to reverse the lawsuit’s February 25 ruling. In response, Chief Justice John Roberts cancels the lower court’s deadline.
March 5: In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court rejects Trump’s appeal to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid payments for already completed work through USAID and the State Department.
So where does that leave us today? The Trump administration has been ordered to pay the $2 billion in contracts. Nonetheless, the administration has shown a penchant for not obeying the rules. In this very saga, they have already violated direct court orders (see February 19). Trump himself has posted on his Truth Social account “he who saves his country does not violate any law.”
We are now thrown into a time of uncertainty. Will the Trump admin pay the required 2 billion? What happens if they don’t? What is the future of USAID? Stay tuned for more updates as this scandal unfolds.
Sources/Credits
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr42r2gw5wzo
https://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-temporary-order-blocking-trumps-dismantling-usaid/story?id=118585005
https://www.dw.com/en/trump-administration-ordered-to-pay-2-billion-in-foreign-aid/a-71883180
politicsblog.org 
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