The State Department suspended nearly all such aid around the world shortly after President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Monday to suspend overseas aid for 90 days.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a cable to all U.S. diplomatic posts on Friday that threatened billions of dollars in funding for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) global programs.
Overseas aid has been the target of anger among Republicans in Congress and Trump administration officials, but the amount is too small compared to the overall U.S. budget, CNN wrote.
Humanitarian officials are in trouble after the executive order and subsequent cables.
CNN wrote that the cable ordered the immediate ‘stop’ of existing foreign aid programs. It also called for the suspension of new aid.
The administration will develop standards next month to review whether U.S. aid abroad is “consistent with President Trump’s foreign policy,” the cable said.
“After this review, a decision will be made on whether to continue, modify or terminate the support program.” ”
The cable said such a review should be completed within 85 days.
The Foreign Ministry’s order exempts emergency food aid as well as foreign military financing for Israel and Egypt. The cable did not specifically mention any countries such as Ukraine or Taiwan that received foreign military funding.
A human rights official said the suspension of funding would “incredibly disrupt programs” and “the details of the cable are very bad.”
Another official told CNN that they expected aid cuts or changes in specific areas, but were not prepared for such an immediate suspension on a large scale.
They say that the demand for humanitarian assistance around the world could be complicated by the suspension of programs in the United States, the world’s largest humanitarian donor.
“The U.S. foreign aid system and bureaucracy are unaligned with American interests and, in many cases, contrary to American values,” Trump said in the executive order. ”
But one official said the U.S. has interests with global health-related assistance programs that have been hit by the suspension. These programs received bipartisan support.
“It is in our interest to ensure that the pandemic does not happen. Global stability is in our interest. ”