There is mass confusion and fear, both in and outside government. The aid organizations say they either don’t know how to get a waiver exempting them from Trump’s order or have no idea if/when theirs might get approved.
And from the article:
Despite an announcement earlier this week ostensibly allowing lifesaving operations to continue, those earlier orders have not been rescinded.
Many groups doing such lifesaving work either don’t know the right way to request an exemption to the order, known as a waiver, or have no sense of where their request stands. They’ve received little information from the U.S. government, where, in recent days, humanitarian officials have been summarily ousted or prohibited from communicating with the aid organizations.
...
By Tuesday evening, Trump and Rubio appeared to heed the international pressure and scale back the order by announcing that any “lifesaving” humanitarian efforts would be allowed to continue.
Aid groups that specialize in saving lives were relieved and thought their stop-work orders would be reversed just as swiftly as they had arrived.
But that hasn’t happened. Instead, more stop-work orders have been issued. As of Thursday, contractors worldwide were still grounded under the original orders and unable to secure waivers. Top Trump appointees arrested further funding and banned new projects for at least three months.
“We need to correct the impression that the waiver was self-executing by virtue of the announcement,” said Marcia Wong, the former deputy assistant administrator of USAID’s humanitarian assistance bureau.
Aid groups that had already received U.S. money were told they could not spend it or do any previously approved work. The contractors quoted in this article spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared the administration might prolong their suspension or cancel their contracts completely.
Hi Rebecca. I believe the issue is that Trump/Rubio do not want to properly execute this waiver. Everyone who has congressional representation should contact their members of Congressand the media to raise awareness about this issue with the broader American public.
The Trump administration is taking deliberate steps to undermine USAID and its ability to process these urgent waivers. More than half the staff has been fired or terminated in the past week. They’re also purging the Legislative and Public Affairs (LPA) division, making it harder for Members of Congress to get answers about USAID’s work.
This weekend, the USAID site and X account were removed. USAID now has a pared down sub-page under the State Department site, solidifying claims in earlier reporting that this Administration want to dismantle USAID as an independent agency (which many argue would require an act of Congress). But Republican members so far are being very silent about this direct attack on checks and balances and their duties under the constitution.
NYT Gift Link: End Appears Near for U.S. Aid Agency, Democratic Lawmakers say. (2/1/25)“Two incoming Trump administration officials familiar with the matter said the president’s team is exploring subsuming the agency into the State Department. Five others close to the administration said they weren’t aware of specific plans but that USAID’s independence is definitely not guaranteed. All were granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak about the issue.”
I don’t think the situation is actually properly resolved by the recent waivers (as @Garrison points out below). See e.g. this thread and the linked ProPublica article. From the thread:
And from the article:
(Thanks for writing the post! I referenced it in a mini thread on Twitter/X.)
What further actions would Trump/Rubio need to take to properly execute the waiver?
Hi Rebecca. I believe the issue is that Trump/Rubio do not want to properly execute this waiver. Everyone who has congressional representation should contact their members of Congressand the media to raise awareness about this issue with the broader American public.
The Trump administration is taking deliberate steps to undermine USAID and its ability to process these urgent waivers. More than half the staff has been fired or terminated in the past week. They’re also purging the Legislative and Public Affairs (LPA) division, making it harder for Members of Congress to get answers about USAID’s work.
This weekend, the USAID site and X account were removed. USAID now has a pared down sub-page under the State Department site, solidifying claims in earlier reporting that this Administration want to dismantle USAID as an independent agency (which many argue would require an act of Congress). But Republican members so far are being very silent about this direct attack on checks and balances and their duties under the constitution.
NYT Gift Link: End Appears Near for U.S. Aid Agency, Democratic Lawmakers say. (2/1/25) “Two incoming Trump administration officials familiar with the matter said the president’s team is exploring subsuming the agency into the State Department. Five others close to the administration said they weren’t aware of specific plans but that USAID’s independence is definitely not guaranteed. All were granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak about the issue.”