by Laurika Pich ‘27

USAID staff had received emails regarding that the agency location in Washington D.C. was closed for the day and advised staff that they should work from home, as well as putting on leave several senior officials. U.S. Agency for International Development, known as USAID, is an independent agency of the government that administers foreign aid and assistance. Recently, it has been tied up in the Trump Administration and Elon Musk’s government efficiency push by shutting down the website and putting several employees on leave. Criticisms of USAID include that, “Trump stated clearly that the United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people,” says Tammy Bruce, a State Department spokesperson.

The United States is the world’s largest source of foreign assistance and with the stop-work order, many countries going through crucial conditions around the globe won’t receive the aid they need. Without the help of USAID, countries will face severe humanitarian crises and many projects in other countries (e.g. vaccination campaigns) will be put on hold or discontinued resulting in the loss of support for said other countries, ultimately leading to the loss of solidarity in their international relations. This further puts vulnerable groups of civilians at risk in their countries without the aid of the United States for their well-being and betterment.