Attachments
Excerpt
1 U.S. ASSISTANCE TO AFGHANISTAN
This quarter, the United States terminated most aid to Afghanistan following a full scope review of U.S.-funded foreign assistance programs ordered by President Donald J. Trump in January 2025. The United States has been the single largest donor to programs supporting the Afghan people, having disbursed more than $3.83 billion in humanitarian and development assistance since the Taliban takeover in 2021.
MOST U.S. ASSISTANCE TERMINATED
On January 20, President Trump issued Executive Order 14169, “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid,” initiating a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance for “assessment of programmatic efficiencies and consistency with United States foreign policy.” All department and agency heads responsible for foreign assistance programs were required to pause new obligations and disbursements of assistance funds to foreign countries, nongovernmental organizations, international organizations, and contractors.
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget was instructed to work with department and agency heads to determine whether to continue, modify, or cease each foreign assistance program.
In implementing the executive order, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a memorandum on January 24 pausing all new State Department (State) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding for foreign assistance programs.
Additionally, Secretary Rubio directed all officers administering foreign assistance grants and contracts to issue stop-work orders to their implementing partners. USAID leadership reiterated these instructions in a directive to all agency personnel.4 By January 27, multiple USAID implementing partners working in Afghanistan told SIGAR they had received notices of temporary program suspensions.
Waivers for Life-Saving Emergency Assistance Programs
On January 28, Secretary Rubio issued waivers from the foreign assistance pause to existing State and USAID programs that provide life-saving medicine, medical services, food, and subsistence assistance.
State programs funded through its humanitarian Migration and Refugee Assistance account were also included in the waiver to continue life-saving care and repatriation of third-country nationals to their country of origin or a safe third country. However, despite the waiver, humanitarian operations did not immediately resume. State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) told SIGAR that its programs remained suspended while the Office of Management and Budget reviewed them separately.
Review of USAID Programs
Following Secretary of State Rubio’s waiver notice, President Trump appointed him as Acting USAID Administrator on February 3. Secretary Rubio then notified Congress that a comprehensive review of USAID’s foreign assistance was underway, “with an eye towards potential reorganization,” to ensure its alignment with the State Department and “an American First agenda.” Secretary Rubio said the primary aim of the review was to determine whether each U.S.-funded program made the United States safer, stronger, and/or more prosperous.
On March 24, USAID notified Congress that it had completed its review of all active foreign assistance programs, which resulted in USAID terminating 5,341 awards, valued at $75.9 billion, with savings of $27.7 billion. At that time, 898 programs remained active globally, including nine in Afghanistan. USAID noted, “this update reflects USAID’s ongoing efforts to manage its resources efficiently while fulfilling its mission to continue to provide lifesaving and strategic aid assistance worldwide.”