US government cancels 83% of USAID funded programmes around the world
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that the Trump administration is canceling 83% of programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.
“After a 6 week review we are officially canceling 83% of the programs at USAID,” the top U.S. diplomat said on his X account, formerly Twitter. “The 5200 contracts that are now canceled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed) the core national interest of the United States” he added.
Rubio said the administration will keep the remaining 18% of programs to be run by the U.S. State Department “more effectively” in consultation with Congress.
He thanked the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, run by billionaire Elon Musk and his “hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform.”
Musk responded to Rubio’s tweet saying “tough, but necessary. Good working with you” referring to the programs cut at USAID. “The important parts of USAID should always have been with Dept of State,” Musk said.
Trump, who has called for the humanitarian agency to be shut down, signed an executive order in January demanding a freeze on all U.S. foreign aid to allow time to assess overseas expenses. The freezes on U.S. foreign aid have led many United Nations organizations to cut staff, budget and services in many places around the world, including, Afghanistan, Sudan and Ukraine.
Credit: VOA
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
