The U.S. Agency for International Development, Washington's primary
humanitarian aid agency, has been a top target of a government reduction
program spearheaded by billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk since
President Donald Trump took office on January 20.
- Hours after he was sworn in, Trump ordered a 90-day pause to all U.S. foreign assistance
pending assessments of efficiencies and consistency with his foreign
policy.
- Four days later, on January 24, the U.S. State Department issued
a "stop-work" order for all existing foreign assistance and paused new
aid with the exception of waivers for military financing for Israel and
Egypt.
While the government gave an exemption for emergency food
assistance and issued waivers for certain life-saving aid, uncertainty
around most other programs has put thousands of jobs and millions of
dollars’ worth of aid material in jeopardy.These countries could lose the most, if U.S. stops aid
The
effects of shutting foreign aid down permanently could have impacts
globally, especially for countries in Africa and the Middle East.
The
U.S. has contributed the largest foreign assistance among countries,
according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The U.S. provides the largest share of assistance
Net disbursements of official development assistance by OECD developed countries.
The line chart shows net disbursements of foreign assistance by developed countries with the United States highlighted in blue.
Why does USAID matter?
Foreign assistance is provided by different agencies of the U.S.
government. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was
the primary foreign assistance agency between 2014 and 2024. The agency
disbursed, or spent, $314.3 billion out of the total $635.2 billion in
this period. The State Department disbursed $175 billion. Obligations
are money that was owed.
USAID accounted for half of foreign aid obligations and disbursements
Foreign
assistance by managing agency between 2014 and 2024.
Obligations refer
to money that was promised but not yet spent, while disbursements refer
to money spent.
The
stacked bar chart shows foreign assistance obligations and
disbursements by different managing agencies of the U.S. government.
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