‘America First’: US cuts USAID budgets for overseas development programmes by 92 percent  

*The United States Government slashes the budgets of overseas development and aid programmes, with multi-year contracts slashed by 92 percent, or $54 billion, but programmes not cut include food assistance, life-saving medical treatments for diseases like HIV and malaria and support for Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela and Lebanon, among others, says the State Department

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

The United States (US) Government has cut the budgets of overseas development and aid programmes, with multi-year contracts slashed by 92 percent, or $54 billion, the State Department noted in a statement Wednesday, February 26, 2025.

ConsumerConnect reports US President Donald Trump, January 20 this year, on his first day in office at the White House, had signed an Executive Order demanding a freeze on all US foreign aid for 90 days.

The administration had stated that the pause was designed to allow the Trump White House to review overseas spending with a view to yanking off programmes not aligned with Trump’s “America First” agenda.

The review in part targeted multi-year foreign assistance contracts awarded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), with the vast majority eliminated during its course.

A State Department Spokesperson also stated: “At the conclusion of a process led by USAID leadership, including tranches personally reviewed by Secretary (Marco) Rubio, nearly 5,800 awards with $54 billion in value remaining were identified for elimination as part of the America First agenda — a 92 percent reduction.”

At the conclusion of the review, 4,100 grants worth almost $4.4 billion were targeted to be eliminated, a 28 percent reduction.

The statement further noted: “These commonsense eliminations will allow the bureaus, along with their contracting and grants officers, to focus on remaining programs, find additional efficiencies and tailor subsequent programs more closely to the Administration’s America First priorities.”

The Spokesperson, however, said programmes that were not cut included food assistance, life-saving medical treatments for diseases like HIV and malaria and support for countries including Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela and Lebanon, among others.

A US Federal judge, Tuesday, had given the Trump administration less than 48 days to unfreeze all aid, after a previous court order issued nearly two weeks earlier went ignored.

The Trump administration, however, filed a petition to put a hold on the lower court order, which was granted by US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts late Wednesday, according to US media reports.

USAID, created after a bill passed by Congress in 1961, had a workforce of more than 10,000 employees prior to the freeze, which sparked shock and dismay among personnel.

Besides, USAID announced February 23, that it was laying off 1,600 of its employees in the US, while placing most of the remaining staff on “administrative leave”.

Walking the talk, Trump during his electioneering, had promised to slash the US Federal Government spending and bureaucracy.

He later bestowed the task on his top donor and close advisor, American billionaire businessman Elon Musk, as part of the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).