President Donald Trump signed an executive order placing a 90-day pause on all foreign aid as “the foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values.” Indeed, President Trump explained, “they serve to destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries.”
The responsible department and agency heads, in consultation with the Director of Office of Management and Budget, will make determinations within 90 days of this order on whether to continue, modify, or cease each foreign assistance program based upon the review recommendations, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State.
New obligations and disbursements of foreign development assistance funds may resume for a program prior to the end of the 90-day period if a review is conducted, and the Secretary of State or his designee, in consultation with the Director of OMB, decide to continue the program. Additionally, any other new foreign assistance programs and obligations must be approved by the Secretary of State or his designee, in consultation with the Director of OMB.
Consistent with President Trump’s Executive Order, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development for review.
President Trump has made clear that the United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people. “Reviewing and realigning foreign assistance on behalf of hardworking taxpayers is not just the right thing to do, it is a moral imperative,” said the office of the State Department spokesperson in a statement.
As Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, “Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?”
“It is the policy of United States,” said President Trump, “that no further United States foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States.”
